The Bus Boycott

 The whole reason that African-Americans finally decided to stand up for themselves was because on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks rode the bus. The bus was full and there were no more seats left. Back then, when a bus got full, the blacks had to stand up and give their seats to the whites. But Rosa Parks didn't give up her sit to this white man. She stayed sitting. It caused this whole tirade and Rosa Parks ended up getting arrested. Martin Luther King Jr. and his supporters started the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Not one black person rode the bus. For transportation the blacks had carpools, rode bikes, or walked to their destination. One time a black man came off a bus and a black lady started to run towards the bus. The bus driver said, "I'll wait for you Auntie." The old lady replied, "I ain't your Auntie and I ain't rushing to get on your bus. I'm just going to beat that old man with this stick for riding the bus." But soon whites found out that blacks weren't riding the buses. The whites tried to stop the blacks from doing this. The Supreme Court upheld the ruling, declaring segregation on buses unconstitutional. The Montgomery bus boycott was officially over. The blacks finally returned to riding the buses on December 21, 1956. But whites were angry. They shot at blacks riding the bus and bombed blacks' houses. It was crazy. But it finally stopped when seven white men were arrested for bombing. Ministers from the MIA joined other ministers from around the South in Atlanta, Georgia on January 10 and 11 1957. They elected Martin Luther King Jr. president of Southern Chrisitan Leadership Conference. Blacks could sit wherever they wanted on the bus and didn't have to stand up for a white person anymore. They won one small battle, which made a big difference!

The Bus That Rosa Parks Would Not Give Up Her Seat On