On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested after refusing to surrender her seat on a Montgomery city bus. Four days later, following a community-wide mass meeting attended by more than 5,000 people, the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott began. Seventy years later, the legacy of the Montgomery Bus Boycott continues to inspire and shape the fight for justice and equality around the world.

To commemorate this historic milestone, the Southern Youth Leadership Development Institute is organizing a series of events to honor the movement’s origins, uplift the families and communities that made it possible, and activate a new generation of leaders ready to carry the work forward.

We invite you to stand with us in honoring this legacy and carrying its spirit forward through these commemorative events.

Schedule of Events

  • Worldwide Tolling of the Bells

    December 1, 2025 • 6:06 p.m. CST

    Join carillonneurs and bell tollers in churches and other houses of worship, on college campuses, and elsewhere around the world in tolling bells or engaging in other symbolic acts to mark the 70th anniversary of Mrs. Rosa L. Parks’ courageous action at the exact moment of her arrest.

    Sign Up

  • Charting Our Future: From Moment to Movement

    December 5, 2025 • 10:00 a.m. CST

    Join us for a historic intergenerational conversation, led by nationally acclaimed journalist Roland Martin and key civil rights voices, focused on how we continue the unfinished work for justice and equity in our communities today.

    RSVP

  • Civil Rights Movement Family Reunion

    December 5, 2025 • 7:00 p.m. CST

    Join us in celebrating the men and women who organized, led, and sustained the Civil Rights Movement since 1955. This private, by-invitation-only reunion will include time for reconnection and remembrance, as well as an opportunity to record family stories and firsthand memories from that era so they’re never lost.

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  • Ecumenical Service

    December 6, 2025 • 8:00 a.m. CST

    Before the Rosa Parks & Ella Baker Youth Call to Action Summit begins, join Summit attendees and faith and civil rights leaders at Mount Zion A.M.E. Zion Church for a grounding moment of prayer and fellowship as we prepare for the work ahead.

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  • Rosa Parks & Ella Baker Youth Call to Action Summit

    December 6, 2025 • 8:00 a.m. CST

    Join students ages 12-20 in exploring youth activism in the Civil Rights Movement and taking the first steps toward building a new coalition rooted in the same cross-racial and interfaith partnerships that propelled the movement seventy years ago.

    Register

  • Rosa L. Parks Gala & Awards

    December 6, 2025 • 7:00 p.m. CST

    Honoring individuals and organizations continuing the transformative work of Rosa Parks, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., and other heroes of the Civil Rights Movement.

    Sold Out!

Chaired By:

Bryan Stevenson, Founder & Executive Director
Equal Justice Initiative

Chris Womack, Chairman, President & CEO
Southern Company

Honorary Co-Chairs:

Ambassador Andrew Young

Rev. Dr. Bernice A. King

Kwame Abernathy

National Host Committee:

The Honorable Shomari Figures
The Honorable Terri Sewell
The Honorable Steven L. Reed
The Honorable Lottie Shackelford

LaTosha Brown
Jennifer Ford Chatfield
John Danielson 
Dr. Janice G. Frazier

JaTaune Bosby Gilchrist
LaMell McMorris
Kathy L. Nealy
Darren Peters
Deborah Scott