Montgomery bus boycott Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Boycott=== [[Image:Rosa Parks Bus.jpg|thumb|The [[National City Lines]] bus, No. 2857, on which Rosa Parks rode before she was arrested (a [[GM "old-look" transit bus]], serial number 1132), is now on exhibit at the [[Henry Ford Museum]].]] On the night of Parks' arrest, the [[Women's Political Council]], led by [[Jo Ann Robinson]], printed and circulated a flyer throughout Montgomery's black community that read as follows: <blockquote>Another woman has been arrested and thrown in jail because she refused to get up out of her seat on the bus for a white person to sit down. It is the second time since the [[Claudette Colvin]] case that a Negro woman has been arrested for the same thing. This has to be stopped. Negroes have rights too, for if Negroes did not ride the buses, they could not operate. Three-fourths of the riders are Negro, yet we are arrested, or have to stand over empty seats. If we do not do something to stop these arrests, they will continue. The next time it may be you, or your daughter, or mother. This woman's case will come up on Monday. We are, therefore, asking every Negro to stay off the buses Monday in protest of the arrest and trial. Don't ride the buses to work, to town, to school, or anywhere on Monday. You can afford to stay out of school for one day if you have no other way to go except by bus. You can also afford to stay out of town for one day. If you work, take a cab, or walk. But please, children and grown-ups, don't ride the bus at all on Monday. Please stay off all buses Monday.<ref name="globe"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/leaflet_dont_ride_the_bus_come_to_a_mass_meeting_on_5_december/ |title=Leaflet, "Don't Ride the Bus", Come to a Mass Meeting on 5 December |publisher=Mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu |access-date=2014-06-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402155441/http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/leaflet_dont_ride_the_bus_come_to_a_mass_meeting_on_5_december/ |archive-date=2015-04-02 |url-status=dead }}</ref></blockquote> The next morning there was a meeting led by the new Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) head, King, where a group of 16 to 18 people gathered at the [[AME Zion|Mt. Zion Church]] to discuss boycott strategies. At that time [[Rosa Parks]] was introduced but not asked to speak, despite a standing ovation and calls from the crowd for her to speak; she asked someone if she should say something, but they replied, "Why, you've said enough."<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gwVbfvfYEZkC&q=rosa+parks+%22You've+said+enough%22&pg=PA408 |title=Civil Rights History from the Ground Up: Local Struggles, a National Movement - Google Books |access-date=June 5, 2014|isbn=9780820338651 |year=2011 |last1=Crosby |first1=Emilye |publisher=University of Georgia Press }}</ref> A citywide boycott of public transit was proposed, with three demands: 1) courteous treatment by bus operators, 2) passengers seated on a first-come, first-served basis, with black people seated in the back half and white people seated in the front half, and 3) black people would be employed as bus operators on routes predominately taken by black people.<ref>{{Cite web|title=African Americans boycott buses for integration in Montgomery, Alabama, U.S., 1955-1956 {{!}} Global Nonviolent Action Database|url=https://nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu/content/african-americans-boycott-buses-integration-montgomery-alabama-us-1955-1956|access-date=January 23, 2021|website=nvdatabase.swarthmore.edu}}</ref> This demand was a compromise for the leaders of the boycott, who believed that the city of Montgomery would be more likely to accept it rather than a demand for full integration of the buses. In this respect, the MIA leaders followed the pattern of 1950s boycott campaigns in the [[Deep South]], including the successful boycott a few years earlier of service stations in [[Mississippi]] for refusing to provide restrooms for Black people. The organizer of that campaign, [[T. R. M. Howard]] of the [[Regional Council of Negro Leadership]], had spoken on the lynching of [[Emmett Till]] as King's guest at the [[Dexter Avenue Baptist Church]] only four days before Parks's arrest. Parks was in the audience and later said that Emmett Till was on her mind when she refused to give up her seat.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Beito|first1=David T.|title=Black Maverick: T.R.M. Howard's Fight for Civil Rights and Economic Power|last2=Beito|first2=Linda Royster|publisher=University of Illinois Press|year=2009|location=Urbana|pages=139}}</ref> The MIA's demand for a fixed dividing line was to be supplemented by a requirement that all bus passengers receive courteous treatment by bus operators, be seated on a first-come, first-served basis, and that Black people be employed as bus drivers.<ref>{{cite book|last=Jakoubek|first=Robert|title=Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights Leader|year=1989|publisher=Chelsea House Publishers|location=Philadelphia|page=49}}</ref> The proposal was passed, and the boycott was to commence the following Monday. To publicize the impending boycott it was advertised at black churches throughout Montgomery the following Sunday.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=University|first1=Β© Stanford|last2=Stanford|last3=California 94305|date=April 26, 2017|title=Montgomery Bus Boycott|url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/montgomery-bus-boycott|access-date=January 23, 2021|website=The Martin Luther King Jr., Research and Education Institute|language=en}}</ref> On Saturday, December 3, it was evident that the black community would support the boycott, and very few Black people rode the buses that day. On December 5, a mass meeting was held at the [[Holt Street Baptist Church]] to determine if the protest would continue.<ref name="Phibbs">{{cite book | last = Phibbs | first = Cheryl Fisher | title = The Montgomery Bus Boycott: A History and Reference Guide | publisher = ABC-CLIO | year = 2009 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=HKPtlNXNILsC&pg=PP1 | pages = 19| isbn = 9780313358876 }}</ref> Given twenty minutes notice, King gave a speech<ref>{{cite web |author=Martin Luther King |publisher=Stanford University |title=Address to the first Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) Mass Meeting |url=http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/the_addres_to_the_first_montgomery_improvement_association_mia_mass_meeting/ |access-date=December 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131206202721/http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/the_addres_to_the_first_montgomery_improvement_association_mia_mass_meeting/ |archive-date=December 6, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> asking for a bus boycott and attendees enthusiastically agreed. Starting December 7, [[J Edgar Hoover|J Edgar Hoover's]] [[FBI]] noted the "agitation among negroes" and tried to find "derogatory information" about King.<ref>{{cite web |title=To J.Edgar Hoover from Special Agent in Charge |publisher=Stanford University |url=http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/to_j_edgar_hoover_from_special_agent_in_charge/ |access-date=December 3, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207065906/http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/encyclopedia/documentsentry/to_j_edgar_hoover_from_special_agent_in_charge/ |archive-date=December 7, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The boycott proved extremely effective, with enough riders lost to the city transit system to cause serious economic distress. Martin Luther King later wrote, "[a] miracle had taken place." Instead of riding buses, boycotters organized a system of carpools, with car owners volunteering their vehicles or themselves driving people to various destinations. Some white housewives also drove their black domestic servants to work. When the city pressured local insurance companies to stop insuring cars used in the carpools, the boycott leaders arranged policies at [[Lloyd's of London]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6gbQHxb_P0QC&pg=RA2-PA360 |title=Encyclopedia of African American History, 1896 to the Present |last=Finkleman |first=Paul |page=360 |year=2009 |publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=9780195167795 }}</ref> Black [[taxicab|taxi]] drivers charged ten cents per ride, a fare equal to the cost to ride the bus, in support of the boycott. When word of this reached city officials on December 8, the order went out to fine any cab driver who charged a rider less than 45 cents. In addition to using private [[motor vehicles]], some people used non-motorized means to get around, such as cycling, walking, or even riding mules or driving horse-drawn buggies. Some people also hitchhiked. During rush hours, sidewalks were often crowded. As the buses received few, if any, passengers, their officials asked the City Commission to allow stopping service to black communities.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/article_overview.htm |title=Montgomery Bus Boycott: The story of Rosa Parks and the Civil Rights Movement |publisher=Montgomeryboycott.com |access-date=September 28, 2012}}</ref> Across the nation, black churches raised money to support the boycott and collected new and slightly used shoes to replace the tattered footwear of Montgomery's black citizens, many of whom walked everywhere rather than ride the buses and submit to [[Jim Crow law]]s.{{citation needed|date=November 2014}} In response, opposing whites swelled the ranks of the [[Citizens' Councils|White Citizens' Council]], the membership of which doubled during the course of the boycott. The councils sometimes resorted to violence: King's and Abernathy's houses were [[Firebombing|firebombed]], as were four black Baptist churches. Boycotters were often physically attacked. After the attack at King's house, he gave a speech to the 300 angry African Americans who had gathered outside. He said: {{Blockquote|If you have weapons, take them home; if you do not have them, please do not seek to get them. We cannot solve this problem through retaliatory violence. We must meet violence with nonviolence. Remember the words of Jesus: "He who lives by the sword will perish by the sword". We must love our white brothers, no matter what they do to us. We must make them know that we love them. Jesus still cries out in words that echo across the centuries: "Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; pray for them that despitefully use you". This is what we must live by. We must meet hate with love. Remember, if I am stopped, this movement will not stop, because God is with the movement. Go home with this glowing faith and this radiant assurance.<ref>{{cite book|last=Darby|first=Jean|title=Martin Luther King, Jr.|year=1990|publisher=Lerner Publishing Group|location=Minneapolis|isbn=0-8225-4902-6|pages=[https://archive.org/details/martinlutherking00darb/page/41 41β42]|url=https://archive.org/details/martinlutherking00darb/page/41}}</ref>}} King and 88 other boycott leaders and carpool drivers were indicted<ref>{{cite web|url=http://studythepast.com/civilrights/cases/montgomery_bus_boycott.pdf |title=Montgomery, Ala., Bus Boycott |access-date=September 28, 2012}}</ref> for conspiring to interfere with a business under a 1921 ordinance.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/state-alabama-v-m-l-king-jr-nos-7399-and-9593|title=State of Alabama v. M. L. King, Jr., Nos. 7399 and 9593 |date=July 7, 2017 |publisher=kinginstitute.stanford.edu |access-date=December 4, 2019 }}</ref> Rather than wait to be arrested, they turned themselves in as an act of defiance.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2016-02-22|title=Remembering the Montgomery Bus Boycott|url=https://uaw.org/remembering-the-montgomery-bus-boycott/|access-date=2021-05-07|website=UAW|language=en-US}}</ref> King was ordered to pay a $500 fine or serve 386 days in jail. He ended up spending two weeks in jail. The move backfired by bringing national attention to the protest. King commented on the arrest by saying: "I was proud of my crime. It was the crime of joining my people in a nonviolent protest against injustice."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://teacher.scholastic.com/researchtools/articlearchives/honormlk/mlklife1.htm |title=The Life and Words of Martin Luther King, Jr. (Part 1 of 2) | Scholastic.com |publisher=Teacher.scholastic.com |access-date=September 28, 2012}}</ref> Also important during the bus boycott were grassroots activist groups that helped to catalyze both fund-raising and morale. Groups such as the [[Georgia Gilmore|Club from Nowhere]] helped to sustain the boycott by finding new ways of raising money and offering support to boycott participants.<ref>{{cite book|last=McGuire|first=Danielle|title=At the Dark End of the Stree|year=2010|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location=New York|isbn=978-0-307-26906-5|pages=96β97}}</ref> Many members of these organizations were women and their contributions to the effort have been described by some as essential to the success of the bus boycott.<ref>{{cite web|title= Interview with Georgia Gilmore, conducted by Blackside, Inc. on February 17, 1986, for Eyes on the Prize: America's Civil Rights Years (1954-1965)|url= http://digital.wustl.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=eop;cc=eop;rgn=main;view=text;idno=gil0015.0383.041|publisher= Washington University Libraries, Film and Media Archive, Henry Hampton Collection |access-date=November 26, 2011|author=Blackside, Inc.}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=McGuire|first=Danielle|title=At the Dark End of the Street|url=https://archive.org/details/atdarkendofstree0000mcgu|url-access=registration|year=2010|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|location=New York|isbn=978-0-307-26906-5}}{{page needed|date=November 2014}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page