Rosa Parks died today at home in Detroit at age 92. In Montgomery, Alabama in 1955, the granddaughter of slaves refused to give up her seat on a city bus to a white man. She was arrested, convicted and fined $10. The new pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., took up her cause. A boycott of the Montgomery bus system grew into the civil rights movement that transformed the nation. In 2002, the nine-mile stretch of Interstate 10 through the Westside of Los Angeles (the Santa Monica Freeway between the Harbor and the San Diego) was named for Parks.

Early New York Times obit
L.A. Times obit
Voice of America obit
Wikipedia entry
Karen Grigsby Bates appreciation on 'Day to Day'

* Tuesday update: Mayor Villaraigosa today ordered the city to fly its flags at half-staff until Sunday. 12:50 pm