Rosa Parks Refuses to Give Up Her Seat

Rosa Parks boarded a General Motors Old Look bus in downtown Montgomery, paying her fare and taking a seat in the designated area for black passengers. As the bus filled, the driver, James F. Blake, instructed four black passengers to vacate their seats for white passengers. Parks, sitting in the first row of back seats reserved for blacks, refused to comply with this demand. Her act of defiance led to her arrest and sparked a widespread movement against racial segregation in public transportation. This incident catalyzed the Montgomery Bus Boycott, which lasted over a year and significantly impacted the Civil Rights Movement, highlighting the systemic injustices faced by African Americans. The boycott resulted in a Supreme Court ruling that declared segregation on public buses unconstitutional, marking a crucial victory in the fight for civil rights and setting the stage for further activism across the nation.