Elevating the best: Rosa Parks becomes the first black woman to be honored with a full-length statue in the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall.

"She defied the odds and she defied injustice," Obama said at the unveiling of a statue of Rosa Parks at the U.S. Capitol. "She lived a life of activism, but also a life of dignity and grace. And in a single moment, with the simplest of gestures, she helped change America and change the world."

 

Rosa Parks statue in  in the Capitol's Statuary Hall photo by Jack Reed/Reuters

"We do well by placing a statue of her here," Obama said, "but we can do no greater honor to her memory than to carry forward the power of her principle and a courage born of conviction." Rosa Parks statue unveiled at Capitol

U.S. President Barack Obama (2nd L) takes part in the unveiling of the Rosa Parks statue in the U.S. Capitol in Washington February 27, 2013. (From L-R) are Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, House Speaker John Boehner, House minority leader Nancy Pelosi and Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC). REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: POLITICS)

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama and congressional leaders unveiled a full-length statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks in the Capitol Wednesday, paying tribute to a figure whose name became synonymous with courage in the face of injustice.

Parks becomes the first black woman to be honored with a full-length statue in the Capitol's Statuary Hall. A bust of another black woman, abolitionist Sojourner Truth, sits in the Capitol Visitors Center...READ MORE