The Montgomery Bus Boycott

On 1 December 1955, Rosa Parks, a seamstress and experienced NAACP activist, was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. Her act was not unplanned in spirit: she had long worked against injustice, and earlier that year fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin had been arrested for a similar refusal. The Women's Political Council, led by Jo Ann Robinson, quickly printed thousands of leaflets calling for a boycott, and the Montgomery Improvement Association chose a 26-year-old minister, Martin Luther King Jr.

, as its leader. For 381 days, most Black residents walked or used organized carpools rather than ride the buses. The city responded with arrests and bombings, including of King's home. The boycott ended after the Supreme Court affirmed a ruling, Browder v. Gayle, that bus segregation was unconstitutional. It showed the power of sustained, disciplined, nonviolent mass action and launched King's national leadership.