Rosa Parks did not give up her seat simply because she was tired, as many people learn in school. She was a member of the NAACP and had taken courses in race relations in which non-violent civil disobedience was discussed as an effective tactic. In her own words Parks described why she remained seated: "The only tired I was, was tired of giving in."
The bus driver who demanded that Parks and the African Americans in her row move to the back of the bus was the same one who, 12 years earlier, made her pay at the front of the bus before telling her to re-board at the back of the bus in 1943. However, before she could get on the bus, the driver, James F. Blake, drove away without her and left her in the rain. The realization that he was the driver of the bus she was on in 1955 helped her to remain seated, even when he threatened to call the police.
Blake called the police and Parks was arrested for disobeying the bus driver's direction. There was a Montgomery city ordinance that allowed bus drivers to assign seats, which lead to the segregation of city buses. Parks spent the night in jail until the NAACP bailed her out.
On December 5, Parks was tried in court, found guilty and ordered to pay a fine. She appealed her case and challenged the legality of racial segregation on city buses. That same day, the boycott of all city buses by African Americans officially began. At the time, it was not expected to last for an entire year but it was not until December 20, 1956, that seating on buses was based on a first-come basis. The boycott was lead by a young Martin Luther King, Jr.
Photo: seattletimes.com
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