ATLANTA – Rosa Park, whose simple act of defiance became a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights Movement, would be turning 111 on Sunday. The courage of Parks, often referred to as “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement,” sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955. Parks’ refusal to give up her seat in the “colored section” to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus on Dec. 1, 1955, after the white section was filled, stands as a monumental act of resistance against racial segregation.