20.2 Freedom Now

I. Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)

A. Rosa Parks took a stand against segregation by refusing to move to the

back of the bus

Rosa Parks is known as the “Mother of the Civil Rights Movement.”

I. Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)…

B. In response, supporters formed the Montgomery Improvement Association

1. Appointed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to serve as President

2. Started a bus boycott

3. Goal was to use economic pressure

“Remember we are fighting for a cause. Do not ride a bus today.” This was one of the posters encouraging the boycott that policemen removed from the bus stops.

Buses remained empty…

I. Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)…

C. They walked, took taxis, & organized carpools

Montgomery citizens walk to work during the bus boycott.

I. Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955)…

D. Boycott ended when Supreme Court ruled that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional (1956)

Picture of Rosa Parks sitting at the front of the bus after the success of the boycott.

Integrated bus suggestions - list made after the Supreme Court ruled that buses should be integrated

For your help and convenience, the following suggestions are made. Will you read, study and memorize them so that our non-violent determination may not be endangered.

3. Pray for guidance and commit yourself to complete non-violence in word and actions as you enter the bus.

4. If cursed, do not curse back. If pushed, do not push back. If struck, do not strike back, but evidence love and goodwill at all times.

9. If you feel you cannot take it, walk for another week or two. We have confidence in our people.

II. Martin Luther King, Jr.

A. King’s organizational and speaking skills enabled him to become the leader of the Civil Rights Movement

King was only 26 years old when he assisted with the bus boycott. In 1957, at the age of 27, he founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization that united black churches against

segregation.

II. Martin Luther King, Jr….B. He encouraged people to use

nonviolent resistance and to practice civil disobedience

“I conclude that this award which I receive on behalf of that movement is a profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral question of our time -- the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression.Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts. Negroes of the United States, following the people of India, have demonstrated that nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation. Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood.If this is to be achieved, man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”

-Martin Luther King, Jr., Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Stockholm, Sweden, December 11, 1964

QuickTime™ and a decompressor

are needed to see this picture.

II. Martin Luther King Jr.…C. Inspired by King, college students formed the

Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC)

1. Practiced civil disobedience by holding sit-ins, marches, protests, & demonstrations

2. Adopted the slogan “jail not bail”

II. Martin Luther King, Jr….

QuickTime™ and aSorenson Video decompressorare needed to see this picture.

During the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Martin Luther King addressed a meeting saying: “Go into the situations that we

confront with a great deal of dignity, sanity, and reasonableness.” What did he mean by this? If people hadn’t acted with “dignity, sanity, and reasonableness,” what might have been the result?

Robert Allen said: “For all their bravado, for all their racial epithets… standing up to them with dignity and courage made

them fearful.” Who is Robert Allen talking about, and why do you think “standing up to them” in this way made them fearful?

Gandhi wrote, “the hardest metal yields to sufficient heat. Even so must the hardest heart melt before the sufficiency of the heat of nonviolence, and there is no limit to the capacity of nonviolence to generate heat.” How do you think nonviolence generates “heat?”

What does Gandhi mean by this?

The purpose of the Montgomery Bus Boycott was to…

1

100%1. Punish the white bus

drivers

2. Change the bus routes so they picked up A.A.

3. Use political pressure to segregate the buses

4. Use economic pressure to integrate the buses

King’s strategy to achieve civil rights was to promote…

1

100%1. Nonviolent

resistance

2. Harassment

3. Black power

4. Separation of the races

Which of the following is TRUE about SNCC?

1

100%1. Formed during the

bus boycott

2. Consisted of black & white college students

3. Used violent tactics

4. Did not follow King’s ideas

During the sit-ins…

1

100%1. Protestors used

violent tactics2. Police arrested the

white people3. Black & white

students sat quietly at the counters

4. King gave the students daily directions

An example of civil disobedience would be…

1

100%1. Running a red light2. Attacking someone

who robbed you3. Expressing

concern about a law by writing a letter to Congress

4. Refusing to pay taxes as a way to protest a war