By Amber English & Shanae Harris
Published: Monday, October 31, 2005
Thousands of people waited for five to six hours between the U.S. Capitol and the National Mall to pay respects to the woman known as the mother of the civil rights movement. Rosa Parks became the first woman to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda Sunday, making her the fifth person in the past two decades to be given such an honor.
Parks' closed-casket public viewing is scheduled to end at 10 a.m. Monday morning, before a public memorial service at 1 p.m. Monday afternoon at the historic Metropolitan AME Church in Downtown Washington D.C.
Mourners came from around the country for this historic event. Community organizer, Attorney Efia Nwangaca, came all the way from South Carolina to pay her respects.
"It was a powerful moment to be in Rosa Parks presence," said Nwangaca, who worked with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee during the civil rights movement.
Even those who were still in line after hours in the cold were positive about the chance to view Parks' casket. Junior Human Development major Jacqui Lee stood in line for several hours outside of the Capitol.
" [Parks] deserves it because of all of her contributions to African-American history," said Lee. "The line is moving by quickly, I expected it to be long."
Although Sunday night's viewing was only scheduled to run until midnight, after the line grew, officials promised that everyone in line before midnight would have the opportunity to see Parks' casket.
" There are so many black people out here, it's just amazing," said D.C. resident Gregory Hampton.
Morgan State University's choir sang, "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" as Parks' body was brought into the Rotunda. President Bush and members of Congress also paused to honor Parks during a separate Congressional memorial service.
After Parks' body leaves the Washington metropolitan area, she will be flown to Detroit for another public viewing at the Charles H. Wright Museum of African-American History from Monday night to Wednesday morning, followed by a funeral at Greater Grace Temple in Detroit, Michigan.
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Monday, October 31st 2005 at 10:50AM
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