Final answer:
Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus on December 1, 1955, leading to her arrest and sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a critical event in the Civil Rights Movement. The community's 381-day boycott, supported by the Women's Political Council and leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., led to the Supreme Court ruling segregation on public buses unconstitutional.
Step-by-step explanation:
The Woman Who Started the Montgomery Bus Boycott
On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks made history when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery city bus. This brave act of defiance against the racial segregation laws of the time not only led to her arrest but also sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Following her arrest, the Women's Political Council and local ministers, including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., rallied the African American community to support Rosa Parks by boycotting the Montgomery bus system.
The boycott lasted for 381 days, as the black community refused to ride on segregated buses. During this time, the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) was formed to guide the protest and the legal battle against segregation. The Supreme Court ultimately deemed Alabama's and Montgomery's bus segregation laws unconstitutional, thanks in part to the lawsuit Browder v. Gayle.
Prior to Rosa Parks, other African American women, such as high school student Claudette Colvin, were arrested for similar acts of defiance. However, it was Rosa Parks' arrest that galvanized NAACP leaders and the wider community into action, leading to the historic bus boycott that would become a crucial milestone in the Civil Rights Movement.