The Montgomery Bus BoycottLesson starter:Write down what you know about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Today we will…

• Understand the events that led to Rosa Parks’ arrest in Dec 1955

• Examine why the bus boycott became a success for the Civil Rights movement

Who?• Rosa Parks, 42 year

old seamstress• From Montgomery,

Alabama• She had grown up in

a segregated society• She was a Civil

Rights Worker – worked for National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP)

What happened?• In 1943, Rosa had

already experienced discrimination on Montgomery Buses

• December 1955, she was told to give up her seat for a white person and refused

• She was arrested• The NAACP decided

to encourage Black Americans to boycott the city’s buses

James F Blake, bus driver

• The NAACP handed out 35,000 leaflets urging people to boycott buses

• 5 Dec onwards – boycott starts

• People walked, cycled and carpooled

• Terrible weather• Lasted for 381 days• Hundreds of buses

lay unused

Rosa being arrested

Empty buses

Walking to work

Why was the boycott so important?

1. 75% of bus users were Black – the bus company eventually had to give in and desegregated Montgomery Buses

2. The boycott lasted over a year – 381 days3. It showed the financial power of Black

people4. It created publicity for the Civil Rights

movement5. It inspired people to stand up for their

rights – after all, Rosa was just an ordinary woman

6. It gave the Civil Rights movement a leader – Martin Luther King who inspired the boycotters

Video Clips

• Bus Boycott

• Rosa Parks

• Rosa Parks funeral (click link at top right)