The Montgomery Bus Boycott
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white person in Montgomery, Alabama. This act of defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a pivotal event in the Civil Rights movement.
Example: African Americans, who comprised 75% of Montgomery's bus ridership, boycotted the city's public transportation system for 381 days.
The boycott was a significant milestone in the struggle for civil rights and brought Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to national prominence as a leader of the movement.
Highlight: The Montgomery bus boycott lasted from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, when the city finally repealed its law requiring segregation on public transport.
The success of the boycott demonstrated the power of organized, nonviolent protest and set the stage for further civil rights actions across the country.