The Montgomery Bus Boycott
Although some historians disagree with this statement, many see the Montgomery Bus Boycott as the „real start“ of the Civil Rights Movement. It is important to keep in mind that this wasn‘t the first boycott of busses, even if it was a successful and famous one.
After incidents like the murder of Emmett Till and others, the arrest of Rosa Parks (1955), after she refused to give up her seat in a public bus to a White man, was the last straw: The Afro-American community of the city in central Alabama had had enough. The NAACP , which Parks had worked with, and the Alabama State College helped her with the trial and also contacted the local churches for support in organising a boycott of public tranportation. That‘s when they met Martin Luther King Jr., who was put in charge to lead the protest. From here, the church took the main responsibility for the organisation, money, finances, location to meet and plan as well as the major inspiration for people to join.
It‘s important and - quite impressive as well - that ALL of Montgomery‘s black population participated fully in the boycott. There was only one known incident, where a Black person used a local bus:
As the Afro-American got off, an old women with a stick raced towards the bus. The bus driver assured her: "You don't have to rush, auntie. I'll wait for you" She responded: "In the first place, I ain't our auntie. In the second place, I ain't rushing to get on you bus. I'm jus' trying to catch up with that nigger who jus' got off, so I can hit him with this here stick"
The Montgomery Bus Boycott started at the day of Parks' trial (December 5th, 1955) and continued for 381 days (until December 20th 1956).
All together, the avoiding of public transport was significant to demonstrate the economical power of Afro-Americans at the time. Buisnesses in Montgomery lost $1 million, because without the bus the Afro-Americans (making a huge percentage of costumers) couldn‘t get downtown. Also this event sparked off many others like it all over the U.S.
In addition, this was essential to bring Martin Luther King Jr. to the top of the movement and attention and also resulted in him later founding the Souther Christian Leadership Confrence (SCLC).
Sources: Vivienne Sanders: Civil Rights in the USA
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott
http://www.history.com/topics/black-history/montgomery-bus-boycott