By Bishop Julius Harrison McAllister, Jr.
I left the Southwest Alabama Annual Conference early the evening before, leaving the presiding elders, pastors, and laity in capable hands so I could be present at the unveiling of the Rosa Parks statue. As the 144th elected and consecrated Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the presiding prelate of the Ninth Episcopal District, which encompasses the state of Alabama, I felt a profound sense of responsibility to attend this hallmark occasion. My father, Bishop Julius H. McAllister, Sr., the 129th elected and consecrated bishop of the AME Church, graciously took my place for the morning session. My mother, Supervisor Joan McAllister, was by his side.
The Governor of Alabama, Governor Kay Ivey, welcomed all of us into a “standing-room only” crowd, filled with media representatives, elected officials, members of the AME Church, and citizens eager to witness history unfold right before our eyes. On this same day, two statues were being placed on the grounds of the State Capitol: Ms. Helen Keller, whose life shaped the conscience of the world through literature, and Rosa Louise McCauley Parks, who would later be known as the mother of the Civil Rights Movement.
As I stood to bring the keynote address for the unveiling of the statue of Rosa Parks, the gravity of the moment could not be overstated. What was reverberating in my mind and heart was the tale of two cities embodied in one: Montgomery is a city where two narratives meet: the birthplace of the modern Civil Rights Movement and the home of the Confederacy. Just across the street from where we gathered stands the White House of the Confederacy, a monument representing hatred and bigotry. Only a few blocks from where I stood for the unveiling, thousands upon thousands of African men, women, and children were once brought to this land in chains, shackled, broken from their families, and sold to the highest bidder. Yet only yards away is the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, then known as Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, where the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as pastor from 1954 to 1960 and helped spark a movement that still shapes our national conscience.
It was in this very city that the Montgomery Bus Boycott unfolded under the leadership of extraordinary men and women: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Reverend Henry Duncombe (pastor of Saint Paul AME Church-Montgomery), Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, Reverend C.K. Steele (pastor of Holt Street Baptist Church and later became the pastor of Bethel Missionary Baptist Church in Tallahassee. Reverend Steele and Reverend H. McNeal Harris, pastor of Bethel AME Church, would lead a similar successful Bus Boycott. E. D. Nixon, Fred Gray, and countless unnamed foot soldiers whose shared conviction changed the trajectory of American history. Joining them were fearless women whose names deserve to be spoken again and again: Jo Ann Robinson, Claudette Colvin, Mary Louise Smith, Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, and the tireless members of the Women’s Political Council. These courageous women confronted injustice head-on, and their resolve became the fuel that ignited a national movement.
For us as members of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, this day carries special meaning. Rosa Parks was not only a civil rights icon; she was one of ours—a dedicated member of the Saint Paul AME Church in Montgomery. Mrs. Parks was a Sunday School teacher, a Deaconess, and a student of the word of God. Though she was a member of the AME Church, her reach and impact went far beyond the four walls of our ecclesial institution. She began a movement that would change the framework for defending ourselves against an oppressive, oligarchic, dictatorial society through nonviolent protest.
This monumental celebration brought all of this history into full view. As I offered my remarks, captured in the accompanying video, I retraced those early steps of the movement; steps taken not by celebrities or politicians, but by ordinary people infused with divine courage. Rosa Parks’ refusal to surrender her seat was not merely an act of civil disobedience; it was the embodiment of a faith that declared her humanity as sacred and non-negotiable. Her quiet courage ignited a flame that shook a nation. Just so happens, the day of the dedication, Friday, the twenty-fourth of October, marked the twentieth anniversary of her passing, and from that day to now, we remain grateful for that single act that changed the way we see justice, equality, and freedom. Because of her faith and fortitude, the laws of transportation and the conscience of a nation were forever changed.
And today, Monday, December 1, 2025, seventy years to the day, after her courageous stand, we reflect upon her noble legacy with a statue that will forever remind the world of her bravery. Her contribution is immeasurable. Her witness is eternal. As her bronze likeness now stands tall at the State Capitol of Alabama, the symbolism speaks louder than any words. How so? Rosa Parks now stands only yards away from where Confederate President Jefferson Davis, a vile and mean proponent of slavery who took pride in enforcing the cruel mistreatment of African Americans, once held power. Her statue faces the very street (Dexter Avenue) where her life-altering stand took place on that wintry day. What a testimony, that the woman they tried to push to the back of the bus now stands in quiet defiance before the very symbols of a system designed to deny her dignity. The one they detained now commands the public square. The one they tried to silence now speaks through generations. This is not by happenstance; it was orchestrated by the divine hand of a God who stands with the oppressed.
As I looked at her statue, I felt a renewed sense of calling. If Rosa Parks could confront a system designed to crumple her heart and demoralize her spirit and still declare her dignity, then surely we can face today’s challenges with the same holy courage.
While I was a student at Turner Theological Seminary at the Interdenominational Theological Center in Atlanta, Georgia, my concentration was Christian Ethics, and my primary professor was Dr. Riggins Earl, Jr. In one of my classes, we studied H. Richard Niebuhr, an ethicist who taught at Yale Divinity School. Dr. Earle once summed up Dr. Niebuhr’s theological philosophy by saying (I’m paraphrasing), he taught that every moment in history places a moral demand on us and that Christians must respond responsibly before God. On that December day, Ms. Parks’ actions were a direct response to an unjust moment. She responded with courage before God. In that single decision, she embodied Niebuhr’s conviction that faith requires responsible action in the face of a moral crisis. She understood that silence in the presence of evil is itself a form of consent, and so she chose to act in a way that honored both her conscience and her God. In a real sense, we could say that Rosa Parks was “WOKE,” and the Sunday School teacher from Saint Paul AME Church knew even before James Cone, the father of Black Liberation Theology, put pen to paper, that God is unapologetically on the side of the oppressed.
Finally, as the Bishop of the Ninth Episcopal District, together with Supervisor Deana Young McAllister, our presiding elders, clergy, and laity, we honor her best not simply by remembering her story but by living her legacy with conviction and unwavering faith.
May God continue to bless the legacy of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, knowing that our future is bright, for the best is yet to come in Christ Jesus.
Special Note:
The Alabama Women’s Tribute Statue Commission oversaw the creation and placement of both statues, and among its members was the Reverend Dr. Agnes Lover, pastor of Rosa Parks’s home church, Saint Paul AME Church in Montgomery. Through her leadership, the commission’s work honored the women whose courage shaped the world.
