MILWAUKEE – If you hop on a Milwaukee County Transit System bus between now and Sunday, you’ll notice one seat has already been taken with a picture of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks attached to it.
It’s the eighth year in a row that MCTS will keep a seat open, with a rose laid out, to honor the legacy of Parks. It was on this day in 1955 when she famously rejected a Montgomery, Alabama bus driver’s order to vacate a row of four seats in the “colored” section in favor of a White passenger, once the “White” section was filled.
This weekend, MCTS is also honoring the legacy of Claudette Clovin. It’s often thought that Parks was the first person to refuse to give up their seat on a segregated bus, but Clovin’s actions actually pre-date Parks’s by about nine months in March of 1955.
The window is also now open for MCTS’s annual scholarship program; this year Milwaukee County high school seniors must submit an essay between now and January 6th based around Park’s quote: “Each person must live their life as a model for others.” Three winners, who will each receive $1,000 towards their higher education, will be announced on February 4, 2024 – Rosa Parks’ birthday & Transit Equity Day.
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