60 years after Rosa Parks, Montgomery’s civil rights history remembered
Above: Rosa Parks at the ceremony awarding her the Congressional Gold Medal, June 15, 1999. (William J. Clinton Presidential Library and Museum, National Archives)
More than 60 years ago when she was a preteen, Doris Crenshaw spent a year traveling around Alabama with the NAACP Youth Council led by her mentor Rosa Parks.
“I don’t know why I was selected to participate. I just knew I wanted to learn more about what was going on around me,” Crenshaw recalls. “Back then, we heard about equality and civil rights everywhere we went – at home, church and school.”
Now Crenshaw leads a nonprofit organization focused on preparing youths between the ages of 13 and 18 to become involved in affecting change.
This weekend that organization – the Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute – will host two days of programs and workshops to bring people together from across the country to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott with the Ain’t Gonna Ride Summit. The activities are designed for youths, community activists, and business and political leaders, Crenshaw said. Most events will be on the campus of Alabama State University.
“We started our commemoration several years ago because we saw a lot being done in Selma, but not much at the time was being done to lift Montgomery and our story,” Crenshaw said. “During the observance of the 40th anniversary, the organization hosted an event that included Mrs. Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Virginia Durr and Mrs. (Ralph) Abernathy.”
On Dec. 1, 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery bus. That act of civil disobedience touched off a boycott that lasted 382 days from Dec. 5, 1955 to Dec. 20, 1956. It propelled the young minister at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., to the forefront of a movement that helped change America. It also showed the world the impact blacks could have on a city when working together.
“At that time, blacks said, ‘We ain’t gonna ride no more,”’ Crenshaw said. “Today we have to stand together with that same attitude when it comes to injustice. The young people must be a part of that. We have to embrace them, and help them develop some structure.”
“Too often people criticize young people, instead of training them to carry on,” Crenshaw said. The Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute trains young people and encourages them, she said.
Deja Chappell, a senior at Montgomery’s LAMP Magnet High School, is participating in the weekend events and will be recognized as young leader. Two years ago, Chappell spearheaded a cleanup in Rosa Parks Park in Montgomery.
“We painted park benches and we went in and just cleaned it up,” Chappell said.
The project was important to her because, she said, “It’s important to our history. Young people need to know what’s going on around them and be a part of it.” When she graduates high school, Chappell wants to attend college and pursue studies in public policy.
Friday and Saturday, she’ll be participating in the Ain’t Gonna Ride Summit that will include sessions on health, economic development, education and voting rights.
Speakers include U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, D-Birmingham, 9:45 a.m. Friday; the Rev. Bernice King on Friday from 1:30 p.m. to 4 p.m.; and Pastor Freddie Haynes of Friendship West Baptist Church in Dallas, at 9 a.m. Saturday at Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church.
“We want young people to come so they can learn about our history and be empowered for the future. We want business leaders to come because economic development is a big part of what we are doing,” Crenshaw said. “Ain’t Gonna Ride is for everybody.”
For a full schedule of events, click here.
