--- description: Obama released a statement on the 60th anniversary of the civil right's icon's refusal to move from an Alabama bus title: Barack Obama: Rosa Parks 'Changed America' image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbbc5b1b2050e03d6/6988733c0a4a2241939c7443/464784263.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [White House](/tag/white-house/) ## White House Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # President Obama Honors Rosa Parks as 'Giant of Her Age' ## Video: The Fable of Rosa Parks [Watch (HLS stream): The Fable of Rosa Parks](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/m2YjoEMW.m3u8) (3:27)  _Published 2015-11-30. What people think they know about Rosa Parks and what actually happened can be two very different things. Professor Jeanne Theoharis deconstructs the fable of Rosa Parks._ by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 1, 2015 4:05 PM CUT  Rosa Parks Mug Shot 1955 Universal History Archive—UIG via Getty Images Rosa Parks Mug Shot 1955 Universal History Archive—UIG via Getty ImagesUniversal History Archive—UIG via Getty Images by [Maya Rhodan](/author/maya-rhodan/) ## Maya Rhodan Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Dec 1, 2015 4:05 PM CUT President Barack Obama celebrated the courage of civil rights icon Rosa Parks on Tuesday, sixty years after her momentous refusal to move from her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. “Like so many giants of her age, Rosa Parks is no longer with us. But her lifetime of activism – and her singular moment of courage – continue to inspire us today,” Obama said. “Refusing to give up a seat on a segregated bus was the simplest of gestures, but her grace, dignity, and refusal to tolerate injustice helped spark a Civil Rights Movement that spread across America. ” Rosa Parks died in 2005 at the age of 92 after a lifetime of committing herself to the movement for civil and social justice in the United States. She was a secretary for the NAACP in the 1940s and championed causes like voter registration,school desegregation and the fight against sexual violence. A intimate collection of her personal writings and speeches opened last year at the [Library of Congress](http://www.loc.gov/today/pr/2015/15-020.html "undefined"). The President’s full statement is below. --- > “” --- Read More: [You Still Don’t Know the Whole Rosa Parks Story](http://time.com/4125377/rosa-parks-60-years-video/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4130791/rosa-parks-sixty-years-obama-tribute/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4130791/rosa-parks-sixty-years-obama-tribute/"},"headline":"President Obama Honors Rosa Parks as 'Giant of Her Age'","datePublished":"2015-12-01T16:05:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:59:48.804Z","description":"It's six decades since the civil rights icon took a historic stand on an Alabama bus","url":"https://time.com/4130791/rosa-parks-sixty-years-obama-tribute/","keywords":["White House","Civil Rights"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbbc5b1b2050e03d6/6988733c0a4a2241939c7443/464784263.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Maya Rhodan","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/maya-rhodan/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbbc5b1b2050e03d6/6988733c0a4a2241939c7443/464784263.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Rosa Parks Mug Shot 1955","caption":"Rosa Parks Mug Shot 1955","creditText":"Universal History Archive—UIG via Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/white-house/","name":"White House"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4130791/rosa-parks-sixty-years-obama-tribute/","name":"President Obama Honors Rosa Parks as 'Giant of Her Age'"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"The Fable of Rosa Parks","description":"What people think they know about Rosa Parks and what actually happened can be two very different things. 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