A happy belated Rosa Parks Day — Dec. 1. On the recent 64th anniversary of the arrest of Rosa Parks on Dec. 1, 1955, the governor of Alabama and the mayor of Montgomery paused to remember Mrs. Rosa Parks with the Rosa Parks life-size statue unveiling, packing Court Square in downtown Montgomery. History had been made 64 years earlier with Rosa Parks’ arrest after refusing to give up her seat on a public bus to a white passenger.

During the unveiling ceremony, Montgomery’s first black mayor, Steven Reed, declared, “Today we honor Mrs. Parks’ act of courage and defiance some 64 years ago.” Having made up her mind to never move again, Rosa Parks was determined to help end the humiliation blacks endured across the South as segregation became the “southern solution” to the problem of the races. By refusing to give up her seat, the country witnessed a true American patriot demonstrate her devotion to the betterment of our nation. This simple act of dignity and courage became a defining moment in American history, paving the way for America to stand up to its ideals of liberty and justice for all, helping to move us closer to fulfilling the vision of equality for all.

It appeared that the arrest of Rosa Parks was part of a divine plan since the customary one phone call she was given was made to her pastor, E.B. Nixon, who was the president of the Montgomery NAACP. Historically, no other civil rights group has played a larger role than the NAACP in fighting to end segregation. With the assistance of the NAACP, the black community in Montgomery mobilized and formed the Montgomery Improvement Association with the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., as president, divinely propelling him into national prominence. Just days later, following several mass meetings, blacks were asked not to ride the busses to work, to town, to school or anywhere, thus launching the Montgomery Bus Boycott, campaigning to end segregation.

This decision to start the bus boycott saw much of Montgomery coming out in support of Mrs. Parks, and over a year later, in Dec. 1956, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled that Alabama’s law requiring segregation on buses was unconstitutional, striking a serious blow to the separate-but-equal doctrine, creating a divinely perfect ending to another chapter in the Freedom Movement.

After having difficulty finding work, Rosa Parks moved to Detroit where she served on Congressman John Conyers’ staff for 23 years. In 1990 she met with Nelson Mandela during a rally in Detroit. And in 1996, President Clinton presented Mrs. Parks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest honor awarded to an American civilian. Rosa Parks died at the age of 92 on Oct. 24, 2005.

Today, as we look to the future and the work left to do, from creating a more equitable education system to restoring full voting rights for all, let’s keep doing our part.

By Larry Sutton

Contributing columnist

Larry Sutton is a retired teacher from Clinton High School.

Seven months ago, an off-duty sheriff’s deputy shot and killed a young Stockton man he said was threatening him with a gun in an apartment complex parking lot.

This week, authorities finally released the identity of the deputy, Michael Knight, who joined the San Joaquin County Sheriff’s Office three years prior to the fatal shooting. His name was provided by the Stockton Police Department, the lead investigating agency.

Stockton city, county and community leaders gathered at the 2017 State of the City to hear the city’s goals and accomplishments since electing its new Mayor Michael Tubbs.

Public safety, the economy and education were the focus of this year’s Stockton State of the City address.

Ambitious and excited, newly elected Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs wants the next four years to be a time of change.

“The future of Stockton looks like us so, however hard we are willing to work and collaborate and problem-solving that’s the future of this community and I’m confident at least with the people I work with the people are really trying to move forward,” he said.

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WASHINGTON (NNPA) – When President Obama returns to Emanuel A.M.E. Church in Charleston, S.C. Friday to eulogize Rev. Clementa Pinckney, it will cap a period in which he has become increasingly outspoken on race, even uttering the N-word to make a point about the slow pace of progress in race relations.

Commenting on the Charleston tragedy on June 18, President Obama said, “The fact that this took place in a black church obviously also raises questions about a dark part of our history. This is not the first time that black churches have been attacked. And we know that hatred across races and faiths pose a particular threat to our democracy and our ideals.”

He quoted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. following the 1963 bombing of 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala.

“The good news is I am confident that the outpouring of unity and strength and fellowship and love across Charleston today, from all races, from all faiths, from all places of worship indicates the degree to which those old vestiges of hatred can be overcome. That, certainly, was Dr. King’s hope just over 50 years ago, after four little girls were killed in a bombing in a black church in Birmingham, Alabama,” Obama recalled. READ MORE

FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN WOMAN U.S. ATTORNEY GENERAL IS CONFIRMED BY A FINAL VOTE OF 56 YEAS TO 43 NAYS

On April 23, 2015, the United States Senate voted, by a margin of 56 yeas to 43 nays, to confirm Loretta Lynch to be the next Attorney General of the United States.  This vote came after a delay of more than 170 days; only 2 U.S. Attorneys General in history saw longer confirmation delays.

On November 8, 2014, President Barack Obama nominated Loretta Lynch to replace Eric Holder as U.S. Attorney General.  Mr. Holder had announced his retirement in September, 2014.  Prior to serving as U.S. Attorney General, Ms. Lynch, served as the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York.  Even her detractors admit that she is extremely qualified, and she makes history as the first African-American woman to serve in the position.

As the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Ms. Lynch earned praise for her work fighting sex trafficking, police brutality, terrorism, and religious and racial hate crimes. In fact, throughout her 30-year career, she has distinguished herself as tough, as fair, an independent lawyer who has twice headed one of the most prominent U.S. Attorney’s offices in the country.  She also traveled to Geneva, Switzerland, in 2014 as part of the U.S. official delegation before the United Nations Covenant to Eradicate Racial Discrimination.  At that time, her mastery of the issues as well as her ardent support and understandings of the positions was impressive. READ MORE

This is the way it often begins. A police officer stops an African-American man who has been tagged as a suspect. By the end of the encounter, the unarmed “suspect” is dead and a debate begins as to why it happened.

This time it was 50-year-old Walter Scott in North Charleston, S.C., stopped for a busted tail light, then shot from behind as he fled.

We know it happened because there was videotape. Just like there was when alleged cigarette peddler Eric Garner was choked to death by police in Staten Island, or when an officer fatally shot 12-year-old Tamir Rice who was playing with a toy gun in a Cleveland park. There were over 200 cameras at an Ohio Walmart where police shot and killed John Crawford Jr. after he picked up a BB gun.

Yet even with videotape, these dead black men are not necessarily even statistics — because no statistics are kept. We don’t know how many more there are like them, how many incidents happened out of sight, or for what reason or to what end — or how many more there will be. READ MORE

(CNN)The world learned his name after he was killed by a South Carolina police officer.

But in his life, 50-year-old Walter Scott was also the father of four children and served in the Coast Guard, his brother said.

"He was outgoing -- loved everybody, (was) very known in the community and got along with everybody," brother Anthony Scott told CNN's Don Lemon. "All the family loves him, and his kids loved him."

It's unclear why Walter Scott decided to run away from Officer Michael Slager after a traffic stop Saturday morning. Anthony Scott said his brother had had trouble with child support, but he wasn't prone to violence. READ MORE