Bermuda this week reflected on the impact of Rosa Parks on the 70th anniversary of her historical stand for civil rights.

About 60 people took part in anniversary celebrations at the St Paul AME Hall on Monday, organised through a collaboration between the church, Imagine Bermuda, the Department of Education and the Ministry of National Security.

Ms Parks, an American civil rights activist, is best known for her 1955 refusal to move from her bus seat in defiance of racial segregation laws.

Her arrest sparked a boycott which lasted for more than a year before segregation on buses was deemed unconstitutional.

The event also features performances by dancers from The Berkeley Institute and singer Angel Oloughlin.

Glenn Fubler of Imagine Bermuda delivered a brief biography of Ms Parks, telling attendees how she stood her ground despite life-threatening circumstances in Alabama.

Meanwhile Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe said that in Bermuda, the law allowed hotels and restaurants to refuse service to Black Bermudians up until the 1960s.

Mr Justice Wolffe added that Ms Parks’s heroic act serves as a lesson to all that with dedication and sustained work, any injustice can be confronted and obliterated.

He urged the public to recognise and celebrate local civil rights pioneers who tackled racial injustice at a great cost to themselves and their loved ones, such as those who led the 1959 theatre boycott.