Montogomery Bus Boycott

On December 1, 1955, an exhausted African American woman, Rosa Parks, boarded a Montgomery bus. When the bus filled up, she was asked to give up her seat to a white gentleman. When she refused she was taken into custody and withheld in the Montgomery jail. This outraged the African American population and the NAACP organized a citywide bus boycott. Over 42,00 African Americans boycotted the Montgomery bus system for a total 381 days. Because African Americans made up 60% of the bus customers, the transportation department suffered greatly. Finally, on December 20, 1956, the Supreme Court deemed segregation on public buses illegal not only in Montgomery but also all over the nation.

The significance of this event is not limited to the desegregation of public transportation alone. It became known as the event that propelled the Civil Rights Movement. It denote one of the first moment in time that African Americans were able to bond together as one and truly overturn segregation laws.

~Thuy