LEFT Rosa Parks statue
with sculptor, Patrick Jewett
RIGHT Rosa Parks Memorial Building
is a 12-story high-rise building in San Bernardino, California; the second
tallest in the city.
San Bernardino Black Culture Foundation
Unveiling of ROSA PARKS STATUE
Caltrans, in partnership with the San Bernardino Black Culture Foundation,
is proud to announce the unveiling of a commissioned Rosa Parks statue, now
permanently housed at the Rosa Parks
Memorial Building in San Bernardino, California. This building is the
headquarters for Caltrans District 8 and other state affiliated agencies.
“Caltrans
is honored to have a role in making this day come to fruition in conjunction
with the San Bernardino Black Culture Foundation and other partners who are
staples in the San Bernardino community,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm
Dougherty.
The unveiling ceremony is the culmination of a
decade-long celebration that began with the dedication of the Rosa Parks Memorial
Building in 2008. The statue’s display will act as a permanent reminder of Rosa
Parks’ legacy and contribution to society.
Friday, February 2, 2018, the unveiling not only
celebrated the accomplishments and long-lasting influence of Rosa Parks, whose
courage ignited a great social movement, but also celebrated the coming
together of a community who worked so diligently to bring this statue to the
Inland Empire.
In refusing to surrender her seat to a white man
on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955, Rosa Parks became the spark that ignited
the civil rights movement in the United States.
Parks’ conviction for violating Southern
segregation laws led to the Montgomery Bus Boycott and nationwide efforts to
end segregation. Over her lifetime, Parks became a nationally recognized symbol
for the fight for equal rights and the struggle to end entrenched racial
segregation.