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Early Local organizing
Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), had been working for years to address the discriminatory practices on public transportation. Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old African American girl, was arrested in March 1955 for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger, months before Rosa Parks' more famous protest.
https://www.womenshistory.org/articles/girl-who-acted-rosa-parks -
Rosa parks arrest
Rosa Parks, a local seamstress and NAACP member, was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a bus to a white man in Montgomery. This act of defiance was the spark for a larger, coordinated protest.
https://www.archives.gov/education/lessons/rosa-parks -
The Boycott Begins
The Montgomery Bus Boycott officially began. African Americans, who made up about 75% of the bus riders, stayed off the buses in protest of the arrest of Rosa Parks and the system of segregation.
The boycott was organized by a coalition of grassroots activists, churches, and local leaders, not just national organizations.
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/montgomery-bus-boycott -
Immediate Grassroots Response and Organization
Local grassroots organizations, especially the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), began organizing in response to Parks’ arrest. The MIA was founded in part to coordinate the boycott.
Jo Ann Robinson of the Women's Political Council quickly produced flyers encouraging African Americans to boycott the buses. These were distributed to local churches and community organizations.
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/montgomery-improvement-association-mia -
National Attention and Growing Support
The boycott began to attract national media attention, bringing the issue of segregation in the South to the forefront of the nation’s conscience.
Local leaders like Ralph Abernathy and Martin Luther King Jr. began to receive attention as spokespersons for the movement.
https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/freedom-rides -
Legal Challenges and Court Ruling
the U.S. District Court ruled that Montgomery’s bus segregation policies were unconstitutional, citing the 14th Amendment (equal protection under the law). This ruling was a victory for the grassroots efforts of the boycott participants.
http://www.african-american-civil-rights.org/montgomery-bus-boybott/ -
Supreme Court Decision/ End of Boycott
The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the lower court ruling, ordering the desegregation of Montgomery's buses.
On December 21, 1956, the bus system was officially desegregated. The boycott officially ended after 381 days of protest.
https://www.loc.gov/exhibitions/rosa-parks-in-her-own-words/about-this-exhibition/the-bus-boycott/ -
Long-term Impact on the Civil Rights Movement
The Montgomery Bus Boycott became a powerful symbol for the Civil Rights Movement and demonstrated the effectiveness of nonviolent protest and grassroots organizing.
It helped propel Martin Luther King Jr. into the national spotlight as a leader of the Civil Rights Movement.