FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEContact:Anthony Puglisi

October 1, 2014973-621-2542

Lauren Shears

973-621-1590

ESSEX COUNTY EXECUTIVE DIVINCENZO HONORS ROSA PARKS

BY DEDICATING THE ROSA PARKS STATUE

AT THE ESSEX COUNTY GOVERNMENT COMPLEX

Tribute Recognizes the Courage and Dignity of Civil Rights Pioneer

Newark, NJ – Essex County Executive Joseph N. DiVincenzo, Jr. honored the contributions and life of the late Civil Rights leader Rosa Parks by dedicating a bronze statue in her likeness at the Essex County Government Complex on Wednesday, October 1st. The statue is positioned in the Rosa Parks Plaza, located at the entrance to the Essex County Veterans Courthouse, which was dedicated in Ms. Parks’ honor on April 19, 2006.

“Rosa Parks is a major figure in American history. Her simple, courageous act of not giving up her seat sparked the Civil Rights Movement and raised awareness about equality and fairness in our society. She is a heroine and has been an inspiration to generations of people who have followed, no matter what their race,” DiVincenzo said. “Placing a statue in her plaza is a fitting tribute to such a brave woman. It will create a lasting impact on all those who visit our complex,” he added.

The dedication was an emotional event during which elected officials spoke about the legacy of Rosa Parks and the importance of remembering her tenacity.

“Rosa Parks changed the world. I want to thank Joe DiVincenzo for his vision and his gift of understanding what’s important for society,” Congressman Donald Payne said.

“Thank you to the women who broke the glass ceilings, the men who opened doors and the pioneers who created a path for all of us to follow. We have a sacred responsibility to leave things in a better state than when we arrived,” NJ State Senator and Essex County Deputy Chief of Staff Teresa Ruiz said. “Rosa Parks reminded us that it is OK to fight if we are right,” she added.

Assemblywoman Sheila Oliver described Ms. Parks as a “game-changer” and “shot-caller.” “The statue of Rosa Parks should inspire all those who come here to continue fighting against all forms of discrimination and inequality,” the Assemblywoman pointed out.

“Her protest gave us hope and pressed us into action,” Freeholder President Blonnie Watson said. “This dedication is moving for me because it reminds me of growing up in Georgia and overcoming the Jim Crow laws there. Now I stand before you as the President of the Freeholder Board. Ms. Parks inspired a generation to stand up for their rights,” she noted.

“Ms. Parks did not give up her seat in Montgomery thinking that there would be a day like this for her in the future. But this statue remind us all of her courageous act and will be here the rest of our lives and beyond that,” Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said.

“Today, we can all stand up because Rosa Parks sat down,” Essex County Democratic Committee Chairman Leroy Jones said. “Rosa Parks was only standing up for her rights and for justice. Through the generations, she has been a symbol of hope,” he added.

“Rosa Parks is the world’s beloved mother of the Civil Rights Movement,” said Meredith L. Henderson from Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., of which Ms. Parks was an honorary member. “Her quiet strength fought back Jim Crow laws. Now we are here in Essex County dedicating a statue in her honor and committing ourselves to continuing her fight for justice,” she added.

At the start of the program, Briana Thomas and Daniela Tacuri from the Rosa Parks Community School in Orange explained the importance of Rosa Parks’ actions and why she should be remembered. “Rosa Parks is one of the greatest Civil Rights activists. She stood up for what she believed was right,” the two seventh graders said. “This is the example for us to follow. Without Rosa Parks, we would not have the opportunities we have today,” they added.

The statue sits on a granite pedestal and depicts Ms. Parks sitting on a seat on the bus. It weighs about 750 pounds. The statue was created by artist Jay Warren from Oregon, who also created bronze statues of New Jersey Governor Brendan T. Byrne in front of the south entrance to the Essex County Veterans Courthouse, Army Specialist and Essex County Sheriff’s Officer Jorge Oliveira in the Essex County Veterans Memorial Park, Congressman Donald Payne, Sr. in front of the Essex County LeRoy F. Smith, Jr. Public Safety Building, Althea Gibson in Essex County Branch Brook Park and Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. in front of the Historic Essex County Courthouse. Funding was provided through donations from Barnabas Health, The Berger Organization, Community Education Centers, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, PSEG Foundation, Verizon and Arthur Ryan, retired President and CEO of Prudential.

The 2006 plaque reads as follows: “Our mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired of it,” Rosa Parks. A simple desire ~ to choose her seat on a bus ride home at the end of a hard day’s work ~ ignited a movement that changed the course of American history. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, an African American woman from Montgomery, Alabama was arrested when she ignored the bus driver’s order to give up her seat to a white man, and move to the back of the bus. This quiet, dignified refusal, uttered by a soft-spoken woman of unwavering faith, has had a positive impact on the lives of every American from that day forth. Rosa Parks’ arrest united Montgomery’s African American community with other fair minded citizens, and they sustained a bus boycott for more than a year. After 381 days of courageous civil disobedience, the discriminatory, segregationist seating policy ~ mortally wounded on the day Rosa Parks said “NO ~ finally died.

Rosa Parks was born Rosa Louise McCauley on February 4, 1913, in Tuskegee, Alabama. She attended school until the age of 11, when she dropped out to take care of her ailing grandmother. She later returned to school and earned her high school diploma at the age of 21. She married Raymond Parks in 1932.

On December 1st, 1955, while on her way home from her job as a seamstress for the Montgomery Fair department store in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the Cleveland Avenue bus to a white passenger. She was arrested and fined, but her courageous decision to defy segregationist Southern laws started a 381-day strike of the bus company and ignited the Civil Rights Movement. With the help of the NAACP, Ms. Parks pursued her civil rights case to the U.S. Supreme Court, where the State of Alabama’s Jim Crow laws were found to be illegal and unjust.

Throughout her life, Rosa Parks was a strong advocate for social justice for all people. After moving to Detroit, she worked as an Aide to Michigan Congressman John Conyers for many years, was a strong supporter of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa during the 1980s and opened a career counseling center for African American youth in Detroit. She received the Congressional Medal of Honor from President Bill Clinton in 1999. Rosa Parks passed away on October 24, 2005, in Detroit at the age of 92.

Several buildings and open spaces in the Essex County Government Complex have been named after prominent people who have influenced the development of Essex County. The park next to the Historic Courthouse and statue in front of the Hall of Records honor Barringer High School graduate and U.S. Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr.; a plaza in front of the Essex County Veterans Courthouse and a statue honor Civil Rights pioneer Rosa Parks; the plaza in front of the LeRoy Smith Public Safety Building and a statue honor the late Congressman Donald M. Payne, who was the first African American Congressman in New Jersey; the plaza at the south entrance of the Veterans Courthouse and a statue honor former New Jersey Governor and Essex County Prosecutor Brendan Byrne; and the plaza in the Essex County Veterans Memorial Park and a statue honor the late Jorge Oliveira, a 10-year veteran of the Essex County Sheriff’s Office who was killed while serving his country in Afghanistan. The Veterans Courthouse and the Essex County Veterans Memorial Park are named as a tribute to the men and women who have defended our country and freedoms while serving in the U.S. Armed Forces. The Essex County LeRoy F. Smith, Jr., Public Safety Building is named for LeRoy Smith, a Newark resident who served as Deputy Director of Emergency Medical Services for the University of Medicine & Dentistry of New Jersey for 38 years before retiring in 2007. In Brennan Park is a monument recognizing the late Charles Cummings, who served as the official Newark historian and librarian with the Newark Public Library for over 40 years. The plaza in front of the Historic Courthouse is named for former Essex County Prosecutor James Lordi. There are also bronze plaques in the promenade recognizing the late Philip Thigpen, Essex County Register and long-time Essex County Democratic Committee Chairman; the late Thomas Durkin, a prominent Essex County attorney; the late Lena Donaldson Griffith, a cultural arts and civil rights pioneer in Newark and Essex County; the late Raymond Brown, a civil rights leader and long-time attorney; and the late Superior Court Justice Thomas “Timmy” McCormack, who was one of the authors of the County’s current Administrative Code and Freeholder By-Laws.

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