BUS BOYCOTT !
The Montgomery Bus Boycott Movement began December 1st ,1955. 17,000 blacks took part in this movement originally, however more and more people joined the group; soon after this movement ended King said that 42,000 blacks had joined the boycott. The bus boycott lasted 381 days of walking to work, harassment, and violence hoping to change the black Montgomery community. The movement drastically changing African American lives in Montgomery, still today it is a very important part in our history. The Boycott Movement began when Rosa Parks had refused to give up her seat to a white man who couldn't find a seat in his section of the bus so he moved towards the back of the bus where Rosa had been seated. She had been sitting in the correct part of the bus but she was still arrested for not agreeing to let the white man have her seat. King was chosen by other members of the Montgomery Improvement Association to protest the arrest of Rosa Parks. Mr. King never used any violence to get his words across to the people, he was a huge advocate of non- violence.
Monday December 5th the boycott began , that Monday they recommended that no blacks rode the bus to or from work. Most of the blacks used other parts of transpiration, like taxis or there white boss who had a car would take them to and from work. On Monday Rosa was tried and convicted, along with being found guilty she had fines she had to pay. This outraged many African Americans. King then held a speech that drew thousands of people at the church he spoke at which he said ”But I want to tell you this evening that it is not enough for us to talk about love. Love is one of the pivotal points of the Christian faith. There is another side called justice. And justice is really love in calculation. Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love.” They had agreed with city officials that no black Montgomery citizens would ride the bus till the were desegregated. Churches began to buy cars forming a car pool transpiration system The Montgomery Bus Boycott Movement began to get violent. On February 1956, 89 boycott members including King was arrested. King's house had begun to get bombed several times and shot at. However December 20th, 1956 after waiting for the day to come and long walks to work, bus rides were now equal. Segregation on buses and transpiration had ended. January 10th, 1957 weeks after the boycott had ended the worst night of violence was exposed with 4 black churches bombed along with 2 homes. |