Oklahoma civil rights leader remembers Rosa Parks

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- An Oklahoma activist says Rosa Parks more than earned the title of "mother of the civil rights movement."<br/><br/>Parks -- who was jailed when she refused to give up her seat on

Tuesday, October 25th 2005, 5:56 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- An Oklahoma activist says Rosa Parks more than earned the title of "mother of the civil rights movement."

Parks -- who was jailed when she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a white man in 1955, died last night in Detroit at the age of 92.

Oklahoma civil rights leader Clara Luper says she met Parks at an NAACP convention in the 1950s.

Luper -- a retired teacher who led a group of teenagers in a sit-in at a downtown Oklahoma City drug store counter in 1958 -- says Parks was a quiet, dignified lady who was single-minded in her pursuit of freedom for her people.

Luper at times choked up when she spoke of Parks, who she said she last saw several years ago.

She called Parks a quiet, humble patriot.