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The Montgomery Bus Boycott began after civil rights activist and seamstress Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a city bus to a white man.
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Martin Luther King Jr. was a devoted follower of nonviolence, and he and his colleague Ralph Abernathy were members of a neighborhood group called the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), which was responsible for organizing a boycott of Montgomery's buses.
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Officials in Montgomery did everything they could to undermine the boycott. The police detained both King and Abernathy. There was violence before, during, and after the event. Bombs were dropped on four churches and on the homes of King and Abernathy. The boycott, however, continued.
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Ninety-nine percent of the city's black residents did not use the bus system. Carpooling services were set up to help the elderly, and commuters walked or rode their bikes to work. The lost income to the bus company was in the thousands.
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There was a favorable Supreme Court ruling for the MIA. It has been ruled that segregated busing violates the Constitution and officials from the city reluctantly agreed to follow the judge's order. The black population of Montgomery, AL, had not wavered in their determination and came out victorious in yet another step forward in ending discrimination against African Americans.
US History