Yesterday, December 1, marked the 55th anniversary that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat for a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama - an event which would be a turning point in American history.
For those American-History-challenged, her refusal to obey the bus driver's order on December 1, 1955, sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, a campaign that protested Montgomery's policy of racial segregation on its public transit system. The boycott lasted 381 days according to Parks' official website (http://www.rosaparks.org/).
Civil rights leaders including Martin Luther King, Jr. and Ralph Abernathy joined with the city's black population in a non-violent protest of the discriminatory system. The boycott of the city's public transit system led to its financial crippling.
Ms. Parks, arrested for her stand, was acquitted from breaking any law as a United States Supreme Court decision declared the Alabama and Montgomery laws requiring segregated buses to be unconstitutional.
Ms. Parks' legacy continues to remind modern Americans what can happen when one individual stands up against injustice.
As the 'Mother of the Civil Rights Movement' said, "As long as any of us are willing to pay the price, there is hope."
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