From: Larry Holmes
New York City Council Resolution to Commemorate the December 1st 50th Anniversary Of Rosa Parks Arrest And Support the Day of Absence
INTRODUCED ON THURSDAY, OCTOBER 27, 2005 BY COUNCIL MEMBERS CHARLES BARRON, TRACY BOYLAND, BILL PERKINS, YVETTE CLARKE, AL VANN, HELLEN FOSTER, ROBERT JACKSON, LETITIA JAMES, CHRISTINE QUINN, DAVID WEPRIN, AND BILL DEBLASIO.
STATUS: REFERRED TO COMMITTEE IN LIEU OF FULL CITY COUNCIL PUBLIC HEARING IN COUNCIL CHAMBERS ON FRIDAY NOVEMBER 18, FROM 11:00AM TO 3:00PM.
Where as, December 1st 2005 will mark the 50th anniversary of the day that Rosa Parks help to open the modern civil rights movement by being arrested in Montgomery Alabama for refusing an order to give her bus seat to a white man.
Where as, Rosa Park's Passing on Monday October 24 has made it all the more timely and necessary that we honor, preserve and draw inspiration from her courage and legacy.
Where as, the heroic Montgomery bus boycott against racist segregation that Rosa Park's sparked became the first mass movement to defeat legalized segregation in the South, as well as the struggle that introduced the world to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the boycott's principal spokesperson.
Where as, the tragic Katrina hurricane exposed to the world that 50 years after the start of the civil rights movement, the need to battle racial inequality, poverty and war, the three things that Dr. King came to see as the enemy of all human progress, remains more urgent than ever before.
Be it resolved that the City Council of New York City declares December 1, 2005 Rosa Parks Commemoration Day.
Be it further resolved that the Council encourages all businesses in the city, both public and private to either close on December 1st, or allow the many workers and students in the city who will want to attend Rosa Parks Commemoration events taking place during normal business hours, to take the day off, or leave work and school early with impunity.