Transit Equality Day

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Transit Equality Day
Rosa Parks
Montgomery Bus that made Rosa Parks notable
Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus that made her notable
Observed byUnited States
TypeAfrican-American
Significancein honor of Rosa Parks, a civil rights activist
DateFebruary 4
FrequencyAnnual

Transit Equality Day or "Transit Equity Day" is a holiday in honor of the civil rights leader Rosa Parks, celebrated in the United States on her birthday, February 4.

Rosa Parks Day was created by a network of Unions, including the Labor Sustainability Network, in 2017.[1] It was first celebrated federally by Department of Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg in 2021,[2] gaining wider celebration in 2023.

Observances by states, cities and counties[edit]

Organization State notes
Maryland Transit Administration[3] Maryland First celebrated in 2023
Metrolink[4] California First celebrated in 2023
Arlington County[5] Virginia First celebrated in 2023
Orange County Transportation Authority[6][7] California First celebrated in 2023
Roanoke[8] Virginia First celebrated in 2023
Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority[9] Georgia First celebrated in 2023
North County Transit District[10][11] California First celebrated in 2023
Metro Transit[12] Minnesota First celebrated in 2023
Wisconsin[13] Wisconsin First celebrated in 2022
Augusta[14] Georgia First celebrated in 2023
Wisconsin[15] Wisconsin First celebrated in 2022
Montgomery County[16] Maryland First celebrated in 2023
Charlotte Area Transit System[17] North Carolina First celebrated in 2023
Suffolk County Transit[18] Virginia First celebrated in 2023

Origins[edit]

Main articles: Rosa Parks and Montgomery bus boycott
Seat layout on the bus where Parks sat, December 1, 1955

Rosa Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was a seamstress by profession; she was also the secretary for the Montgomery chapter of the NAACP. Twelve years before her history-making arrest, Parks was stopped from boarding a city bus by driver James F. Blake, who ordered her to board at the back door and then drove off without her. Parks vowed never again to ride a bus driven by Blake. As a member of the NAACP, Parks was an investigator assigned to cases of sexual assault. In 1945, she was sent to Abbeville, Alabama, to investigate the gang rape of Recy Taylor. The protest that arose around the Taylor case was the first instance of a nationwide civil rights protest, and it laid the groundwork for the Montgomery bus boycott.[19]

In 1955, Parks completed a course in "Race Relations" at the Highlander Folk School in Tennessee where nonviolent civil disobedience had been discussed as a tactic. On December 1, 1955, Parks was sitting in the frontmost row for black people. When a Caucasian man boarded the bus, the bus driver told everyone in her row to move back. At that moment, Parks realized that she was again on a bus driven by Blake. While all of the other black people in her row complied, Parks refused, and was arrested[20] for failing to obey the driver's seat assignments, as city ordinances did not explicitly mandate segregation but did give the bus driver authority to assign seats. Found guilty on December 5,[21] Parks was fined $10 plus a court cost of $4,[22] but she appealed.

Rosa Parks' action gained notoriety leading to the Montgomery bus boycott, which was a seminal event in the civil rights movement, and was a political and social protest campaign against the policy of racial segregation on the public transit system of Montgomery, Alabama. The campaign lasted from December 1, 1955 – when Rosa Parks, an African-American woman, was arrested for refusing to surrender her seat to a white person – to December 20, 1956, when a federal ruling, Browder v. Gayle, took effect, and led to a United States Supreme Court decision that declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional.[23] Many important figures in the civil rights movement took part in the boycott, including Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy. The 381-day boycott almost bankrupted the bus company and effectively made segregation in buses unconstitutional and illegal.

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ "'Transit Equity Day,' Honoring the Birthday of Rosa Parks, Will be Observed on Saturday, Feb. 4". February 2023.
  2. ^ Folley, Aris (February 4, 2021). "Buttigeig on Rosa Parks's birthday promises 'equity' at Transportation Department". The Hill.
  3. ^ "MTA offering free rides to honor Rosa Parks birthday, Transit Equality Day". CBS News. February 2, 2023.
  4. ^ "Transit Equity Day | Metrolink".
  5. ^ "Arlington County Honors Transit Equity Day with Fare-Free Rides".
  6. ^ "Bus - Transit Equity Day 2023".
  7. ^ "OCTA and Metrolink offering free rides Saturday for Transit Equity Day". February 3, 2023.
  8. ^ "Roanoke celebrates Transit Equity Day with free bus rides for the first time". February 4, 2023.
  9. ^ "Ride MARTA Feb. 3-4 in honor of Transit Equity Day". MSN.
  10. ^ "North County Transit to Offer Free Rides to Celebrate Rosa Parks' Birth, Transit Equality Day". January 29, 2023.
  11. ^ "North County Transit to Offer Free Rides to Celebrate Rosa Parks' Birth, Transit Equality Day - e Point Perfect". January 29, 2023.
  12. ^ "Transit Equity - Metro Transit".
  13. ^ "Transit Equity Day | City of EAU Claire, Wisconsin".
  14. ^ "Augusta celebrates Transit Equity Day". February 5, 2023.
  15. ^ "Transit Equity Day | City of EAU Claire, Wisconsin".
  16. ^ "County Honors Rosa Parks for Transit Equity Day". February 2023.
  17. ^ "Ride fare free with CATS for Transit Equity Day". February 2, 2023.
  18. ^ "Suffolk Transit celebrates Equity Day with free service". January 31, 2023.
  19. ^ McGuire, Danielle L. (2010). At the Dark End of the Street: Black Women, Rape, and Resistance- A New History of the Civil Rights Movement from Rosa Parks to the Rise of Black Power. Random House. p. 8 and 39. ISBN 978-0-307-26906-5.
  20. ^ "Rosa Park's arrest report" (PDF). December 1, 1955. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 13, 2013.
  21. ^ "Parks, Rosa Louise." Encyclopedia Americana. Grolier Online[permanent dead link] (accessed May 8, 2009).
  22. ^ Feeney, Mark (October 25, 2005). "Rosa Parks, civil rights icon, dead at 92 – The Boston Globe". Boston.com. Retrieved September 28, 2012.
  23. ^ Montgomery Bus Boycott ~ Civil Rights Movement Archive
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