African-American leaders in Seattle praised Rosa Parks on Monday, saying she is just as inspirational today as she was 50 years ago.

"She is the most inspirational female stalwart of the civil-rights movement," said King County Councilman Larry Gossett, who helped found the Black Student Union at the University of Washington in 1968. "And I say inspirational because anyone — black, white, Asian, Native American — who has read about the power of the movement has been inspired by the courageous role she played at the start."

The Rev. Samuel B. McKinney, 78, the longtime pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church, was preaching in Rhode Island in 1955, when Mrs. Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white man.

"On this particular day, I don't think Rosa left home planning on empowering a movement," McKinney said. "I think she was just tired. Racism can do that to you."

Even before Mrs. Parks' action, it was clear that "something was just waiting to happen," McKinney said.

Some people don't realize that in Montgomery, Ala., "You had to get on the bus, pay your money, get off the bus and go around and into the back door, and sometimes the bus would leave," he said.

McKinney never heard Mrs. Parks speak, but he said he has been in her presence, and she was the epitome of grace. The fact that a quiet, introverted, deeply principled and deeply religious person said "no" let people feel like they could make a difference, McKinney said.

"That's the lesson from Rosa Parks that still holds true today," he said. "Dr. King used to say that injustice somewhere is injustice everywhere, and injustice is wrong. If you have a chance to challenge it, do it."

Gossett agreed. "If she could do what she did, there was no telling what the rest of us can do."

Seattle Times staff reporters Craig Welch and Jennifer Sullivan contributed to this report.