Thursday, December 01 PITTSFIELD - Fifty years ago today, a black seamstress named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white man on a city bus in Montgomery, Ala. This small and courageous act was the spark that lit the flame of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and '60s.

When Parks died last month in Detroit at age 92, the City of Pittsfield lowered its flags to half-staff. Yesterday, the city and the non-profit group Women of Color Giving Circle combined to honor Parks in another way, with a presentation at Conte Community School entitled, "Celebrating Rosa Parks' Great Act of Courage."

The one-hour ceremony contained speeches, songs and even a dance demonstration, all performed in front of a large crowd packed into the school's gymnasium. Besides the entire Conte student body, those in attendance included at least three city councilors, Berkshire County District Attorney David F. Capeless and Pittsfield Police Chief Anthony J. Riello.

The featured speakers were Eric DuRant of Pittsfield, the son of retired clergyman and community activist the Rev. Willard Durant, and Nakeida Bethel-Smith and Felicea Robinson of the Women of Color Giving Circle. A Pittsfield organization founded in November 2004, the Women of Color mentors African American girls and women.

"I saw the kids sitting on the floor and realized that our presentation about Rosa Parks was to kids and for kids," said Ruberto, who had not planned to sit with the youngsters until he stepped to the podium. "I thought if I could get down on the floor with them and hold their attention, we could have fun and they might listen to an old man like me."

Although today is the actual anniversary of Rosa Parks' act, the ceremony took place yesterday because it fit better into everybody's schedules, mayoral aide John Krol said.

Robinson, a recent University of South Florida graduate who is spending the year in Pittsfield as an AmeriCorps Vista volunteer, gave the most rousing speech, urging those in attendance to use Parks' act as an example to take charge of their own lives. She began her speech with a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: "Be the change you want to see in the world."

"How can you make a difference?" she asked. "If you think you can, and believe you can, you can. If Rosa Parks took one small step, why can't we?"

Bethel-Smith, a Berkshire Community College student who had attended Conte, said that she came to speak about Parks' legacy. "She sparked a flame that is still burning today," she said.

DuRant, a lieutenant in the Berkshire County Sheriff's Department, said the United States has come a long way since 1955, but still has a long way to go.

"We live in the greatest country on earth, and yet we still have millions of families without health insurance," DuRant said. "Are you tired yet? When do we say, 'Enough is enough?' When do we, as Americans, start treating everybody else as equals? ... The child from Bradford Street is no worse than the child from Elm Street.

Jazmyn Thomas, a Conte fifth-grade student, read an essay she had written about Parks. The Conte Community School Chorus opened and closed the program with songs. The Gladys Allen Brigham Community Center Rising Stars performed a few dance numbers.

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