Tyler Celebrates Rosa Parks Day

TYLER – St. James CME Church and Tyler Transit hosted an event Friday to mark Rosa Parks Day. The celebration came 62 years after Parks refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama. Her action touched off the historic Montgomery bus boycott, widely seen as a pivotal event in the civil rights movement. “We have to remember the woman who stayed in her seat, she sat there, and made a difference in the lives of future generations,” St. James Pastor Orenthia Mason told KETK.

The morning started with a ceremony which included prayer, speeches, and poetry. After the program, community members jumped on a bus to tour different parts of the city. “We tour some key points of the historical aspect in Tyler for African-American history,” says Tyler Transit Director Russ Jackson. “As she made a difference, stand up and make a difference,” says Mason. “Learn that it is important to stand for what you believe, but do it in an intelligent way.”