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Women's Political Council (WPC) Prepares for Action
The Women's Political Council had been fighting to end segregation on buses for a long time. By the time Claudette Colvin was arrested, they were ready for a protest. When Jo Ann Robinson discovered Colvin's arrest, she started getting the council and community ready to act. -
Claudette Colvin Incident
Claudette Colvin was a 15-year-old Black girl living in Montgomery, Alabama. One day in March 1955, she stood up for herself. Claudette refused to give her seat to a white person on a segregated bus. She got arrested, and her case made people in Montgomery think more about ending bus segregation. -
Rosa Parks Arrested
When Rosa Parks, a respected NAACP secretary and civil rights activist, was arrested after refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man, it was a decisive moment. Her strong character and close ties to local civil rights leaders made her an excellent choice to rally around. Also, she was local, which made the situation feel immediate and real. This incident was a crucial moment in the formal start of the bus boycott. -
WPC and Local Leaders Mobilize
The Montgomery Improvement Association was created mainly to support the work of the Women's Political Council. After hearing about Robinson's plan and its reason, the MIA called for a one-day bus boycott on December 5, the day of Parks' trial. -
Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) Founded
After the one-day boycott worked, community leaders, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., E.D. Nixon, and Ralph Abernathy, created the MIA to manage the long-term bus boycott. The MIA started carpools and other forms of transportation for Black people, who used them in much greater numbers than the White people who rode the buses. -
MIA Faces Legal and Financial Pressure
To stop the boycott, leaders, who included Dr. King, the city tried using fines and arrests. They hoped these would scare the leaders into quitting the boycott. But the MIA's leaders didn't give up. Even with the harassment and economic pressure, they stayed calm. They held the community together and kept leading their organized resistance. -
MIA Leaders Indicted Under Conspiracy Laws
A grand jury indicted over 80 leaders of the Montgomery bus boycott today, putting even more legal pressure on the boycott, which is already feeling the heat of law and order. But this grand jury action might be the best thing for the country's peace. -
Federal Court Rules Bus Segregation Unconstitutional
In Browder v. Gayle, a federal court said that segregated buses in Montgomery were illegal. The court used the Brown v. Board of Education decision as a reference. -
U.S. Supreme Court Upholds Decision
The Supreme Court backed the lower court's decision. They ruled on December 20, 1956, and said the boycott succeeded. Then, on December 21, the people of Montgomery proudly rode the buses again. They stayed peaceful, even though some people in the city who wanted to continue segregation were violent. -
Boycott Ends
After 381 days, the Montgomery Bus Boycott came to an end. Black leaders were encouraging the boycott's supporters to ride buses again. Why? Because a decision by the U.S. Supreme Court had ordered public buses to be desegregated.