January 2006 - Street Spirit

Rosa Parks and the Transportation Justice Movement

By Janny Castillo

To See Right Exist

In 1955 the first ten seats of every bus in Montgomery, Alabama were reserved for white people only. Even if the bus was filled with black passengers standing in the aisles, no one could sit in these seats. In addition, Montgomery city law stated that if the seats in the back of bus were needed for white passengers, black passengers could be compelled to surrender their seats. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, a department store seamstress and volunteer secretary of the NAACP, refused to give up her seat. This heroic act became a catalyst for change: it sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and 13 months later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Montgomery’s segregation laws were unconstitutional. 

A young Baptist minister, on December 5^th, 1955 the eve of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, already knew this. His name was Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. He spoke these words that encouraged thousands to walk instead of ride the bus for well over a year: “And just because she refused to get up, she was arrested. You know my friends there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression… We are here, we are here this evening because we're tired now. Now let us say that we are not here advocating violence. There will be nobody among us who will stand up and defy the Constitution of this nation. We only assemble here because of our desire to see right exist…

My friends, I want it to be known that we're going to work with grim and firm determination to gain justice on the buses in this city. And we are not wrong, we are not wrong in what we are doing. If we are wrong, then the Supreme Court of this Nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong… If we are wrong, justice is a lie. And we are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Working with Grim and Firm Determination

Forward 50 years to December 5^th, 2005 on a cold winter evening at Frank Ogawa Plaza in Downtown Oakland… The fight continues for an equitable and just transportation system for ALL. Urban Habitat sponsored the event that brought together religious leaders, community activists, AC Transit bus drivers and transit dependent riders, and others to honor Rosa Parks and take a stand on the inequities that exist in public transportation today. “When funding for roads is inadequate, we have to endure a few more potholes,” according to Lila Hussain, event organizer, “but when funding for buses is inadequate, people are unable to get to work and school.” Nearly 80 percent of AC Transit bus riders are people of color, and more than 60 percent have no other means of transportation.

Lila is speaking about the unequal distribution of funding by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) to the public transportation giants: MUNI, BART, and AC Transit. Richard Marcantonio, Public Advocates Attorney, shared these facts: “As a result of MTC’s knowingly discriminatory funding practices, AC Transit riders receive a public subsidy of only $2.78 per trip, BART passengers receive more than double that: $6.14 – and Caltrain passengers receive $13.79, nearly five times more than AC Transit riders.”

Reverend Cheryl Elliot words opened the event. “Dignity, Justice, Respect, Access and Opportunity for All.” Sylvia Darenburg, an African American mother of three, is transit dependent and, like Rosa Parks, has taken a stand for justice. Sylvia, along with two other plaintiffs, has filed a civil rights law suit against MTC for its discriminatory and inequitable funding processes.

Kid’s First youth activists who were present carry Rosa Park’s spirit it their constant struggle to keep transportation affordable for Oakland’s low income youth. Reverend Shumaker spoke, “Something great and wonderful came out of Montgomery. Fifty years later, we are still tired and fighting for transportation justice. We do not have affordable, accessible, and safe transportation. It is a travesty of justice that AC Transit is not being funded at the appropriate levels.”

To Work and Fight Until Justice Runs Like Water

“This society would still be as wretched, were it not for their sacrifice.” Joshua Abram of the Ella Baker Center said during his speech. The struggle for social, economic, as well as transportation justice is in need of a ‘Rosa Parks’ sacrifice. There are many on our streets, associated with our social justice agencies, our grassroots organizers, who are working against all odds to insure that our communities of color are treated fairly and equitably. As long as injustice exists, the work is not done. It starts with the willingness of the one to stand for justice — it could start with you.

“If we are wrong, justice is a lie.”

To join the effort or to donate, please contact the Transportation Justice Working Group at 510 839-9510 or visit www.urbanhabitat.org. To read an article from a December 2005 event honoring Rosa Parks, please click here.

To read Martin Luther King's speech at the Holt Baptist Church during the Montgomery Bus Boycott, please click here.

To read an article that appeared in the San Francisco Chronicle discussing Rosa Parks titled End Funding Discrimination in Public Transit, please click here.

Another article End Race Discrimination in Public Transport Today celebrates Rosa Parks, click here to read it.

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