s gruesome detail. The nation sat and watched what fueled the fire for so many young blacks, who would come of age in the 1960s.In 1955, Montgomery, Alabama had a municipal law which required black citizens to ride in the back of the city's buses. On December 1st of that year, Mrs. Rosa Parks, a forty-two year old seamstress, boarded a city bus and sat in the first row of seats in the black section of the bus. When some white men got on the bus, the driver, James F. Blake ordered Mrs. Parks to give up her seat and move back. She refused to move, and Blake called the police to have her arrested. When Rosa Parks was arrested, the leaders in Montgomery 's black community saw the incident as an opportunity for staging a protest against the city's segregation laws. They held a meeting and began the M.I.A (Montgomery Improvement Association). The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. was elected as president of this organization. The Montgomery bus boycott continued into 1956. For all its success, the boycott had its downfalls. Some blacks grew tired of their stand. They grew tired of walking places, they found themselves having to seek insurance from London as it was impossible to get it at home. During that time, reactionaries within the local white communities fought back against the protesters in a variety of ways. Blacks riding in car pools were harassed by the police. Bombs were set off at the houses of both the Reverend King and E. D. Nixon. At one point, King was arrested on a petty speeding offense. Conspiracy charges (based on state anti-boycott law) were brought against King as well as the other leaders of the M.I.A. Finally, in November of 1956, the US Supreme court declared that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional, and the boycott was brought to an end. The boycott was important because it caught the attention of the entire nation. People around the country were made aware of the event because it was launch...
