COLUMBUS – Ohio’s 12th annual tribute to civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks will be a two-day affair in Columbus.
Tribute to Rosa Parks, “The Power of One”
Thursday: Community Leaders Forum, 5:30 p.m., Panel Discussion, 7:00 p.m., Ohio History Connection, 800 E. 17th Ave
Friday: Children’s Assembly, 11:00 a.m., Vern Riffe Center, Davidson Theatre, 77 S. High St.
Ohio was the first state to designate Dec. 1 as Rosa Parks Day, marking the 50th anniversary of when Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger, sparking the Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott, signaling the start of the modern civil rights movement. The remembrance was inaugurated by legislation sponsored by then state Representative Joyce Beatty (D-Columbus).
Now a Congresswoman, Beatty and OSU president Dr. Michael Drake will be among those taking part in the community leaders’ forum.
Beatty, United Way of Central Ohio president and CEO Janet Jackson and TV anchor Jerry Revish will join in the panel discussion.
More than 500 elementary school students from three area schools will attend the children’s assembly Friday morning, an event that will be streamed live to elementary schools throughout the state. The assembly will feature “Front of the Bus,” an interactive sing-a-long of civil rights and freedom songs.