On Sunday, December 1, 2024, Knoxville Area Transit (KAT) will once again honor Rosa Parks, a pivotal figure in the fight for racial justice, by reserving a seat on every bus in her honor.

Each seat will display a placard commemorating Parks’s courage and her role in transforming the civil rights landscape of the United States.

Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, after refusing to give up her seat to a white man. Her act of defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a 381-day protest of the city’s transit system by African Americans that ultimately led to the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional.

“Rosa Parks’s decision to remain seated changed the course of history and serves as a powerful reminder of the impact one person can make in the pursuit of justice,” said Isaac Thorne, Director of Transit for the City of Knoxville. “At KAT, we honor her legacy by committing to equity, diversity, and inclusion.”

This annual tribute highlights the significance of public transportation as a space where the fight for equality was both challenged and advanced.

KAT invites riders to take a moment to reflect on Parks’s legacy.