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Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. March 2, 1955. Claudette Colvin 15-year-old was arrested, roughed up and thrown in jail refused to give up her seat to a white man was removed from the bus by two police officers, who took her to jail.
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March 2, 1955 • Claudette Colvin • 15-year-old • was arrested, roughed up and thrown in jail • refused to give up her seat to a white man • was removed from the bus by two police officers, who took her to jail. • "I'd moved for white people before," Colvin says. But this time, she was thinking of the slavery fighters she had read about recently during Negro History Week in February. "The spirit of Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth was in me. I didn't get up."
October 21, 1955 • Mary Louise Smith • returning home on the city line bus was ordered to relinquish her seat for a white passenger • Her stand landed her in jail and she was charged with failure to obey segregation orders
Rosa Parks • On December 1, 1955, • After a long day at work at the Montgomery Fair department store • She took a seat in the first of several rows designated for "colored" passengers • Though the city's bus ordinance did give drivers the authority to assign seats • The driver stopped the bus and moved the sign separating the two sections back one row and asked four black passengers to give up their seats. • Three complied • Rosa refused and remained seated. The driver demanded, "Why don't you stand up?" to which Rosa replied, "I don't think I should have to stand up." • The driver called the police and had her arrested • Later, she recalled that her refusal wasn't because she was physically tired, but that she was tired of giving in
The police arrested Rosa at the scene and charged her with violation of Chapter 6, section 11 of the Montgomery City code. • She was taken to police headquarters where later that night she was released on bail. • On December 8, Rosa faced trial and in a 30 minute hearing was found guilty of violating a local ordinance. • She was fined $10, plus a $4 court fee
Montgomery Bus Boycott • E.D. Nixon plans to organize a boycott of Montgomery’s city buses. • The Montgomery Improvement Association • Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. president • Several thousand black citizens attend the first MIA mass meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church • Where they overwhelmingly support continuing the bus boycott
Negotiations between city leaders • The first negotiations between MIA leaders and city and bus company officials deadlock over a proposal by MIA spokesmen for a bus seating policy that is more fair to blacks but still segregated. • The MIA beginings to operate a car pool system. • In time, the system will grow to more than 200 private automobiles and station wagons, many of which are operated by black churches. • Fred D. Gray and Charles D. Langford file the Browder v. Gayle lawsuit on behalf of four female plaintiffs to challenge the constitutionality of city and state bus segregation laws. • Federal court holds a hearing on the Browder v. Gayle lawsuit challenging bus segregation law. • Claudette Colvin, Mary Louise Smith and two other plaintiffs testify before circuit judge Richard T. Rives and district judges Frank M. Johnson Jr. and Seybourn H. Lynne. • Federal judges Rives and Johnson rule the city and state bus segregation laws are unconstitutional.
On to the Supreme Court • Federal judges in Montgomery issue an injunction against segregation on Montgomery buses • Suspend its enforcement pending an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. • With no dissent, the U.S. Supreme Court upholds the Montgomery federal court’s Browder v. Gayle decision striking down Alabama’s bus segregation laws. • Those attending an MIA mass meeting unanimously vote to end the bus boycott when the U.S. Supreme Court decision is implemented. • Black citizens desegregate Montgomery buses after the 13-month boycott. • The bus company resumes full service
