WHEREAS, In 1955, an African-American seamstress named Rosa Parks committed an act of civil disobedience by refusing to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus; and
     WHEREAS, Parks, a shy and soft-spoken woman, later explained that her bold and dangerous action happened because she was tired of Jim Crow laws and deep injustices towards black citizens and other oppressed individuals; and
     WHEREAS, Her simple act of defiance ignited a national civil rights revolution, causing Americans to face racism, discrimination, and segregation practices that permeated throughout society; and
     WHEREAS, A boycott of Montgomery city buses ensued, lasting 381 days and ending on November 13, 1956, in Browder v. Gayle, when the United States Supreme Court outlawed segregation on buses; and
     WHEREAS, Martin Luther King Jr., a preacher at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, became a civil rights leader and peace activist; and
     WHEREAS, Parks, fearing that Dr. King's national holiday would portray him as merely a "dreamer" said, "As I remember him, he was more than a dreamer. He was an activist who believed in acting as well as speaking out against oppression."; and
     WHEREAS, During the latter part of her life, Parks was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal; and
     WHEREAS, Rosa Louise Parks died on October 24, 2005, at the age of 92; and
     WHEREAS, The "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement" became the first woman to lie in honor under the United States Capitol Rotunda, sharing this distinction with other national leaders, including John F. Kennedy and Abraham Lincoln;
     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, That the Washington State Senate honor Rosa Parks and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for their courageous and pioneering spirit, heeding the call to service and relentlessly pursuing inequalities and civil injustices; and
     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be immediately transmitted by the Secretary of the Senate to the Washington State Commission on African-American Affairs.