24 | FEBRUARY 22 • 2024 
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osa Parks is recognized 
as one of the foremost 
pioneers of the Civil Rights 
Movement — a soft-spoken, 
dignified African American 
woman who wouldn’t give up 
her seat to a white man on a 
Montgomery, Alabama, city 
bus. Her subsequent arrest led 
to a boycott of Montgomery’s 
segregated public bus system by 
local African Americans and a 
hard-earned early success for the 
civil rights movement. 
The Friends of Pasteur 
(friendsofpasteur.org), a local 
nonprofit that provides enrichment 
for Detroit’s Pasteur Elementary 
School students, brought Parks to 
life with a special gift from Ron 
Cohen, a 1962 Pasteur graduate, 
and his wife, Christie Smith. With 
their donation, an amazing Rosa 
Parks reenactor from Montgomery, 
Alabama — Ann Clemons — 
visited Detroit for educational 
presentations at Pasteur School, 
New Prospect Memorial Baptist 
Church in Detroit and Temple Shir 
Tikvah in Troy. 
Cohen saw Clemons’ 
reenactment of Rosa Parks on a 
trip to civil rights sites organized 
last year by Cary Levy, a long-
time friend and corresponding 
secretary for the Friends of 
Pasteur. “She really portrayed the 
problems of Montgomery. She was 
phenomenal,” Cohen said. While 
he has lived in Oregon for many 
years, Cohen has contributed 
to the Friends of Pasteur since 
its inception and attended some 
board meetings.
Clemons’ first presentation was 
held on Feb. 1 at New Prospect 
Missionary Baptist Church, a 
partner and neighbor of Pasteur 
School. Rev. Carnel Richardson, 
church pastor, mentioned his 
involvement in the Coalition for 
Black and Jewish Unity to Levy. 
The Coalition is a program of the 

OUR COMMUNITY

Ann Clemons 
reenacting 
Rosa Parks

SHARI S. COHEN CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Bringing 
 Civil Rights 
History to
Life 

Friends of Pasteur host 
educational program 
about Rosa Parks. 

RABBI ASHER LOPATIN

