Impact of Rosa Parks, 60 years later

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - It’s been 60 years since Rosa Parks made history on a bus with her silent resistance that inspired many others.

"Rosa Parks decided that no she wasn't going to move again, and it was her right to sit where she sat,” 85-year-old civil rights activist Josie Johnson said.

Johnson was among those to follow her example. And in just a matter of years, centuries worth of unjust laws all across America were reversed.

"You had to be well organized, had to have issues clearly identified and have a strategy,” she said.

Protesting in the 1960's has become the gold standard. And in this time of renewed questions about race in America, many of the same tactics are returning.

"We talk about sit-ins, aligns, kneel-ins, courthouses, etc.. that's all similar,” University of Minnesota professor Keith Mayes said.

Mayes said he sees the 4th Precinct in many ways as a mirror image of protests past. But unlike the protests of the 1960’s, some would argue the ones in north Minneapolis are much more complicated in the goals they hope to achieve.

The deadly shooting of Jamar Clark remains largely a mystery with any wrongdoing still very much in doubt. Since the occupation began, both police and protesters have been criticized.

"It's not unusual for you to see one or two people doing something mischievous,” Mayes said. “You may see someone throw a rock, but that does not represent a movement as a whole."

The movement is well aware of history.  And if we know one thing, it's that time judges harshly -- legal and illegal are always subject to right and wrong.