city officials in montgomery alabama unveiled a new statue of rosa parks on sunday exactly 64 years after the civil rights pioneer was arrested for violating segregation laws and refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger parks was honored with a lifesize bronze statue in downtown montgomery just a few feet away from where she boarded the now infamous city bus the statue shows parks standing firm in a long coat with her hands clutching her purse in front of her city and state officials unveiled a new statue of rosa parks on sunday dec 1 2019 in in montgomery alabama city of montgomery her arrest on dec 1 1955 sparked the montgomery bus boycott a demonstration organized by rev martin luther king jr which led to the desegregation of public transportation in the city the successful demonstration also played a key role in the passage of the civil rights act of 1964 which integrated public spaces nationwide more civil rights leader rep elijah cummings dies at 68 to stand here today as montgomerys mayor where mrs rosa parks stood defiant against systemic injustice infecting our community and our country speaks to the magnitude of this moment and the progress achieved in our city montgomery mayor steven reed said in a statement sunday this progress coupled with the dawn of a new era of reconciliation and revitalization underscores montgomerys status as the birthplace of civil rights and a light unto the world rosa parks sits in the front of a bus in montgomery alabama after the supreme court ruled segregation illegal on the city bus system dec 21 1956 bettmann archivegetty images the memorial was erected in partnership with the city of montgomery montgomery county the alabama department of tourism and the montgomery area business committee for the arts more investigation grows in death of beloved civil rights activist this statue has been a long time coming and mrs rosa parks is more than deserving as she represents all of the many foot soldiers who sacrificed their lives and families to make a change montgomery county commission chairman elton dean said sunday this is a great day for montgomery county the seeds she planted are ever continuing to be harvested in a june 15 1999 file photo rosa parks smiles during a capitol hill ceremony where parks was honored with the congressional gold medal in washington a new statue show more khue buiap photo sunday also marked the secondannual rosa parks day in alabama city officials held several events throughout montgomery to honor the civil rights icon over the weekend parks died in 2005 at the age of 92 abc news samara lynn contributed to this report