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Why one seat on every MATA bus will already be taken Wednesday

The Memphis Area Transit Authority said it is reserving the first passenger seat on every MATA vehicle Wednesday in honor of Rosa Parks.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — If you take a MATA bus Wednesday, December 1, 2021, you’ll find one seat already taken.

The Memphis Area Transit Authority said it is reserving the first passenger seat on every MATA vehicle Wednesday in honor of Rosa Parks, the ‘Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.”

Each seat will have a sign displayed honoring Parks’ legacy and dedication to the movement.

It was December 1 in 1955 when Parks refused to move from a bus seat “reserved” for white passengers in Montgomery, Alabama. That led to her arrest and sparked the Montgomery bus boycott, which then led to the Supreme Court ruling which outlawed segregation on public transportation.

“We celebrate Rosa Parks’ tremendous contribution to the civil rights movement,” said MATA’s Chief of Staff Bacarra Mauldin in a news release. “Her courage, grace, dignity, and refusal to tolerate injustice transformed the entire nation.”

RELATED: 65 years ago, Rosa Parks refused to give up her bus seat. Her arrest helped spark the Civil Rights Movement

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