December 1955Reputable sourceWell documented
The Montgomery Bus Boycott
On the timeline · around December 1955 ·
What happened
When Rosa Parks was arrested in December 1955 for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man, Montgomery's Black community launched a boycott of the city's segregated buses. For 381 days they walked and carpooled, led by a young minister named Martin Luther King Jr., until the buses were desegregated by court order.
Why it matters
The boycott's success proved the power of mass, nonviolent direct action, launched King as a national leader, and became the template for the civil rights movement to come.
Sources
- HISTORY (A&E). Montgomery Bus Boycott · Reputable source