Montgomery Bus Boycott: A 381-Day Mass Protest In The US

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The 1955 Montgomery bus boycott was a 381-day mass protest that resulted in the ruling of segregation on public transportation as unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court. The mindset of black veterans coming back from WWII, the beating death of Emmett Till, and Rosa Park’s refusal to give up her seat for a white person, on a public bus, were causes that helped catalyze the boycott. The systematic decisions of an executive committee, effective employment of nonviolent direct action, and overall unwavering persistence of the black community ultimately succeeded in the desegregation of local transportation of Montgomery. Unlike many of the black citizens from Southern cities that were oblivious to the cultural dimension of black struggle,…show more content…
Carolyn’s husband, Bryant, and his stepbrother, J.W. Milam, took Emmett from his relative’s home to Sunflower County. Emmett was beaten, shot, and thrown into the Tallahatchie River, where he was found a few days later. A ring with Emmett’s initials was used to identify his corpse because his body and face had been so badly mutilated. Mamie Till Bradley, Emmett’s mother, requested for an open casket funeral, “so the world can see what they did to [her son]” (Eyes on the Prize: Awakenings - Film). Unfortunately, an all-white jury exonerated Emmett’s killers of the murder accusations. The beating death and murderers’ verdict incited much horror and outrage within the black community. The death of Emmett was a pivotal moment for the Civil Rights Movement that soon helped triggered the first steps into the Montgomery Bus…show more content…
Parks was arrested and taken to jail. During this time, the movement for racial justice was slowing down and an opportunity to battle bus segregation was much needed to catapult the movement forward. The NAACP had waited for the opportunity to launch a case against the segregation in buses and began organizing a meeting with black leaders. Coupled with the already riled black community, the organized black leaders and NAACP managed to begin a unanimous bus boycott after the persecution of Parks. The one-day bus boycott was scheduled for the very next day, on 5 December
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