Alabama State University News December 7, 2011 ASU's National Center Celebrates 56th Anniversary of Bus Boycott ASU's National Center marked the 56th anniversary of the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott with a visit from the Rev. Calvin O. Butts III, pastor of the nationally renowned Abyssinian Baptist Church. Alabama State University's National Center for the Study of Civil Rights and African-American Culture celebrated the 56th Anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott on Monday, December 5 at the historic First Baptist Church on Ripley Street. The event, which was titled "The Mass Meeting of the Montgomery Bus Boycott: The Prophet of the People," was co-sponsored by The ASU Lyceum Committee, ASU's Student Government Association and The Montgomery Improvement Association. The Rev. Dr. Calvin O. Butts III, pastor of the nationally renowned Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York and president of SUNY College at Old Westbury, served as the guest speaker. Butts is a native of New York. He earned bachelor's degree in philosophy from Morehouse College in Atlanta, a Master of Divinity degree in church history from Union Theological Seminary and a Doctorate of Ministry degree in church and public policy from Drew University. Butts' message was themed "Do You See What I See?" He shared his admiration for the people who lived through and participated in the Civil Rights Movement. He praised leaders like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, E.D. Nixon, Ralph Abernathy and many others for the courage to put their own lives in danger to fight for what they believed was right. He also praised women like Rosa Parks, Coretta Scott King, Winnie Mandela, Fannie Lou Hamer and others as the backbone that supported and sustained the movement. The various stages of the fight for human rights all are connected, Butts said, citing the Civil Rights Movement, the women's liberation movement and the movements of oppressed people in Haiti, South Africa, Burma and other countries, including the US. "Poor people are tired of being poor, they don't want to see a few fat cats up top while everyone at the bottom has nothing, and that has nothing to do with race." He went on to compare the Occupy Wall Street movement to the Montgomery Bus Boycott. "Don't condemn the young men and women who are pushing for their economic rights because that's what Montgomery was about," Butts said. "We broke the back of the bus company. It's a decision that we had to make - we may not be riding the bus any longer but it is a collective decision to withhold." Butts reminded the audience that while things are better than they were at the time of the Bus Boycott, the fight for equality and justice is not over. "There may be struggles along the way," Butts said. "We have come over a path of tears and blood, but we still keep on going." SANDRA M. PHOENIX Program Director HBCU Library Alliance sphoenix@hbculibraries.org<mailto:sphoenix@hbculibraries.org> www.hbculibraries.org<http://www.hbculibraries.org/> 404.592.4820 Skype:sandra.phoenix1 1438 West Peachtree Street NW Suite 200 Atlanta, GA 30309 Toll Free: 1.800.999.8558 (Lyrasis) Fax: 404.892.7879 www.lyrasis.org<http://www.lyrasis.org/> Honor the ancestors, honor the children.