Rosa Parks’ historic home church to celebrate Rosa Parks Day 2023

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (WSFA) - St. Paul AME Church, the home church of Rosa Parks, will hold a celebration for the 6th Annual Rosa Parks Day in Alabama.

In 2018, the Alabama Legislature voted in favor of designating Dec. 1 as Rosa Parks Day. Dec. 1 is the day she was arrested in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus to a white passenger. Her act of resistance sparked the historic Montgomery bus boycott, becoming a key event in the civil rights movement.

This year, Friday Dec. 1, St. Paul AME Church will commemorate the occasion with The Rosa Parks Day Rally and Unity Walk, marching from King Memorial Baptist Church on Dexter Avenue to the Rosa Parks Museum, lead by Reverend Dr. Allen Sims, Sr. The march begins at 5:30 p.m.

The event concludes with a public convocation held at St. Paul AME Church at 7 p.m. The convocation will feature a talk from successful actress and retired Dean of the College of Visual and Performing Arts at Alabama State University, Dr. Tommie “Tonea” Stewart.

Awards will be presented to honorees Joanne Bland, Reverend Dr. Viola Bradford, Eddie Digby Compton, III, Valda Harris Montgomery, Shelley Stewart, and Lynda Blackmon Lowery for their contributions to the civil rights movement.

Scholarships will also be awarded to student essay contest winners based on their essays titled, “The Erosion of Democracy in America: Your Perspective.”

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