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DETROIT, Nov 1, 2005 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Mourners paid respect Tuesday to civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks in her adopted city of Detroit, where she died in her apartment last week at age 92.
Some 1,500 people lined up outside the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History Monday night to honor the black pioneer who rose to world prominence nearly 50 years ago by refusing to go to the back of an Alabama bus.
The public viewing continues until 5 a.m. Wednesday, WXYZ-TV and the Detroit Free Press reported.
Some in the respectful crowd shouted "Thank you, Rosa," while others sang, "We Shall Overcome."
Juan Hill, 46, of Detroit was the first person in line allowed to view Parks' casket.
"I don't like what they did to her on that bus; they put her in jail," Hill told the newspaper.
John Lee, 52, of Detroit said it was his duty as an African-American to honor Parks.
"Just the luxury of being able to stand here and not worry about being harassed is something I owe to her. Her life was one of godliness," Lee said.
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Copyright 2005 by United Press International
