Janice Hahn: “60 years ago today Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a White man. Her simple act of…”

“60 years ago today Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a White man. Her simple act of defiance and her quiet dignity in the face of daily injustice grabbed the attention of activists and launched the civil rights movement. In 2013, we unveiled a statue of Rosa Parks that stands just outside these doors in the U.S. Capitol Statuary Hall. This year I took my 11- year-old granddaughter to Rosa Parks Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, so that the next generation of young Americans can understand the role that she played in shaping the history of our country. I actually got the great honor of meeting Rosa Parks at an event once that my father held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Community Hospital in Watts. What thrill it was to hold her hand as the audience sang ``We Shall Overcome.'' It has been 60 years, but, unfortunately, we know that the discrimination Rosa Parks faced still faces minorities communities in this country today. On this anniversary, I hope we can look to her example for inspiration in the ongoing struggle for justice for every American. ____________________”