#381 Rosa Parks t-shirt

Rosa Parks sparked the history Montgomery Bus Boycott when she refused to move to the back of the bus after a white man boarded and demanded her seat. The boycott, which lasted 381 days, played a large role in foregrounding the Civil Rights movement.
 
Here are 3 more things to know about 12.01.1955.
 
1) Rosa Parks was a seasoned freedom fighter and the December 1st incident was not her first encounter with nonviolent activism, nor the bus driver, J. Fred Blake. In 1943, Ms. Parks paid her fare at the front of the bus, then exited to re-board in the rear, as required. Blake then pulled away before she could re-board.
 
2) African-Americans made up 75% of Montgomery's bus ridership but the city refused to comply with the demands of the boycott. To ensure its success, the black community banded together by organizing carpools, riding bikes and horse-drawn buggies, and even walking. Black taxi drivers charged 10 cents, the same price for bus fare, and black churches across the country sent slightly used shoes to replace those worn down by Montgomery's black citizens.
 
3) The White Citizens' Council, a group founded in the South primarily to oppose racial integration in schools, saw its member- ship double during the course of the boycott. The group often used violent intimidation tactics to deter the movement, including firebombing the homes of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ralph Abernathy.
 
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