Congressman Snyder To Host Rosa Parks Essay Contest Washington, DC - U.S. Representative Vic Snyder announced today that he will host an essay contest in honor of civil rights hero Rosa Parks. One winner in each of three categories will receive a cash prize and the three winning essays will be read by Congressman Snyder on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and entered into the Congressional Record. “Rosa Parks was a truly a remarkable woman and an inspiring activist who was committed to seeing African Americans move forward and achieving equal rights,” Congressman Snyder said. “I think it is important that our young people remember her many acts of courage.” The contest is open to students who reside in the eight counties that make up Arkansas’s Second Congressional District: Conway, Faulkner, Perry, Pulaski, Saline, Van Buren, White, and Yell. Essays in three categories must be the signed original work of the student. Students in grades one through six will have a 250 word limit on the theme “What Rosa Parks Means to Me,” and the winner will receive a $50 prize. Seventh through ninth grade students will have a 500 word limit on “What Rosa Parks Will Mean for My Children” for a $100 prize, and 10th through 12th grade students will write about “What Rosa Parks Will Mean for My Grandchildren” in under 750 words for a $150 prize. Essays may be submitted by mail or hand delivered to Congressman Snyder’s Little Rock office in the Federal Building at 700 West Capitol, #3118 Little Rock, AR 72201. Entries must be postmarked or hand delivered by December 2, 2005. Teachers, please make sure that entries include the student’s name, place of residence, and school on the back of each page. Please call Congressman Snyder’s office at 501-324-5941 for more information. Congressman Snyder recently cosponsored a resolution in Congress that allowed the body of Rosa Parks to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda so that the public could pay respects to her. This was a distinguished honor, and according to the Library of Congress was only once before granted for a private citizen. Ms. Parks was the first woman and second African American to receive the tribute. The most recent person to lie in honor in the Capitol was President Reagan in 2004. Additionally, Congressman Snyder has joined several of his colleagues to honor Rosa Parks by cosponsoring a bill that would place a statue of her in Statuary Hall of the U.S. Capitol. -30- |