On Thursday, December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks boarded a crowded bus in Montgomery, Alabama. She was going home after a hard day’s work.
As always, she sat in the back, where blacks had to sit. After a few stops, all the seats were taken. Then a white passenger got on board. The bus driver told Mrs. Parks and the others in her row to stand and let the white man sit. Rosa Parks refused. She was taken to the police station and booked. Then she was moved to the city jail. That evening, she was released on bond.
News of the arrest spread quickly. The city’s blacks decided to protest by staying off the buses. On Monday, almost all the city’s black bus riders found another way to get to work. The boycotters’ goal was simple: end segregation on city buses.
Montgomery’s black leaders wanted to keep the boycott going. So they founded the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). They elected 26-year-old Martin Luther King Jr. president. The MIA started car pools to help people get to work. They also held meetings to urge people to keep up the boycott.
