Mesa College Celebrates Annual Rosa Parks Birthday Recognition
(Mesa College President, Dr. Pamela Luster, and the Black Studies Department Chair, Dr. Thekima Mayasa, joined KUSI’s Lauren Phinney on Good Morning San Diego)
At San Diego Mesa College every February, the first week of Black History Month activities includes the annual Rosa Parks Birthday Recognition Celebration. This year, the COVID-19 epidemic has prohibited the tradition of celebrating together, so Mesa College honored her with a special virtual video montage presentation.
San Diego Mesa College and civil rights activist Rosa Parks enjoyed a special relationship. Mrs. Parks visited the campus on February 4 and 5, 1992, and again in 1995. In 1993, the campus was named the western branch of the Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self Development.
Following Rosa Park’s death in 2005, the college wanted to honor the late civil rights activist. In 2010, the Rosa Parks memorial project was designed to celebrate the legacy and attributes of the civil rights activist and especially the “Quiet Strength” that all people have within them to take a stand against repression and injustice.
