The Detroit News. Her act of courage launched a movement Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat to a white passenger has been honored many times. Parks' action that day touched off a 381-day bus boycott that stoked the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s and prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to rule that laws permitting racial segregation on Montgomery's city buses were unconstitutional. Parks, commonly known as the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement, moved to Detroit with her husband, Raymond, in 1959 and continued her work for civil rights through involvement in community programs in the Motor City. An organization named for her and her husband provides bus tours that illuminate African-American history for youths.
Parks also is involved in a scholarship foundation for young people.
All of those achievements led numerous Detroit News readers to nominate her as a Michiganian of the Century. Though in frail health, she continues to make appearances throughout the nation at events promoting racial harmony and social justice.