Tag Archives: public bus

On December 1, 1955 African American Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat to a white passenger. She was arrested by police and charged violating the part of the Montgomery City code that dealt with segregation law, even though she had not technically violated the law. Rosa was later bailed out of jail by Edgar Nixon, president of NAACP. 

After her arrest, Montgomery blacks announced boycott of the buses. The boycott was led by the president of Montgomery Improvement Association, young Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Under his leadership, the Montgomery bus boycott had lasted 381 days. The Supreme Court ruled in November 1956 that segregation on transportation was unconstitutional.

The Rosa Parks incident sparks African American’s quest for freedom and equality. It is not only a single history event. Through her arrest, the Montgomery blacks under the leading of NAACP and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. united other southern states’ blacks to protest segregation policy. The success from the Supreme court’s ruling gives MLK a new way to fight for desegregation, that is non-violence movement. MLK distinguishes himself in this boycott. More blacks follow him and it begins MLK’s rise to battle for the civil rights.

This image is from http://www.grandtimes.com/rosa.html