U.S. civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks.<br/> <br />On Wednesday, a 9-foot bronze statue of her was unveiled at the U.S. Capitol.<br/> <br />U.S. President Barack Obama spoke of Park's courage to stand up for change.<br/> <br />(SOUNDBITE) (English) U.S. PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA SAYING:<br/> <br />"This morning, we celebrate a seamstress, slight in stature but mighty in courage. She defied the odds, and she defied injustice. She lived a life of activism, but also a life of dignity and grace. And in a single moment, with the simplest of gestures, she helped change America -- and change the world."<br/> <br />Parks made history in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat on a public bus to a white man.<br/> <br />Her arrest in segregated Montgomery, Alabama sparked a bus boycott that lasted more than a year, and was seen as a crucial accomplishment by the U.S. civil rights movement.<br/> <br />Her statue is the first of an African-American woman to be placed in the Statuary Hall.<br/> <br />Parks died in October of 2005.
