On This Day in History

Rosa Parks Remembered on Her Birthday

Clay Cane
February 4, 2026

In this Saturday, Dec. 1, 2001, file photo, civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks holds the hand of a well-wisher at a ceremony honoring the 46th anniversary of her arrest for civil disobedience, at the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Mich. Parks archive of letters, writings, personal notes and photographs has been fully digitized by the Library of Congress and is now available online. The library announced Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016, that the collection of about 10,000 items belonging to Parks is available to the public. (AP Photo/Paul Warner, File)

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(AURN NEWS) – On this day, February 4, 1913, civil rights icon Rosa Parks was born in Tuskegee, Alabama. Decades later, on December 1, 1955, Parks made a decision that would help change the course of American history when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated Montgomery bus. Her arrest sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a yearlong protest that challenged racial segregation and helped ignite the modern civil rights movement.

Parks dedicated her life to justice, dignity, and freedom, becoming a global symbol of quiet resistance and moral courage. Over her lifetime, she received more than 40 honorary doctorates and numerous awards. In 1996, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.

Happy heavenly birthday, Rosa Parks.

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Clay Cane is an award-winning journalist, writer, radio host, and political commentator. A graduate of Rutgers University with a degree in African-American Studies, his work on race, culture, and politics have appeared in national publications, including the Washington Post, CNN, and The Grio. Clay is a regular political commentator on MSNBC. Twitter: @claycane