Montgomery Bus Boycott:: I was There 12/2/2010 4:23:37 AM
It was in early December 1955 when the historic Montgomery Bus Boycott began. Here, a few sigfnicant points are presented by a person who participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott. I was there. Rosa Parks was arrested on December 1, 1955, for refusing to give her seat to a white man when ordered to do so by a bus driver.
I was there, in Montgomery. At that time, I was a second quarter student, working on my Master's degree, at Alabmaa State College (now University) located in Montgomery, and pastor of the Bell Street Baptist Church in Montgomery.
Although there were relevant activities taking place immediately after Parks' arrest on Thursday, it was December 5, 1955, Monday, that the bus boycott began. That Monday was a historic day. It was the day of Rosa Parks's trial, when she was found guilty of violating the segregation laws of Alabama in Judge Judge B. Scott's court and fined. That day, the Montgomery Improvement Association,(MIA),that would provide organizational leadership for the bus boycott, was founded and Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., was elected to serve as president and Uriah J. Fields, (this writer) was elected to serve as the recording secretary. That day, in the evening, the first bus boycott mass meeting was held at the Holt Street Baptist Church, Rev. A. W. Wilson, pastor, and the people, more than 3,000, decided by vote, to continue the one-day old bus boycott...until city officials and city bus line officials make a positive response to the demands of African Americans, as presented in the resolutions and recommendations that were read by Rev. Ralph D. Abernathy and approved during that mass meeting.
To learn more about that day, December 5, 1955, I invite you to visit my website: www.uriahfields.com and read my article: "The First Day of the Montgomery Bus Boycott." While there, also read "Fifty Years After the Montgomery Bus Boycott," an article I wrote after I attended the "Fiffy Years Anniversary Celebration" of the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
You may want to forward this email to other people who have a right to know about the Montgomery Bus Boycott, including those who were not yet born during the bus boycott. "Lest we forget," or never knew.
It was the Montgomery Bus Boycott that began the new civil rights movement, or, at a minimum, gave impetus to a marking time state of the struggle for justice for black Americans who were segregated and descriminated against, denied the right to vote and access to public facilities.
To learn more about the Montgomery Bus Boycott read my book: "Inside the Montgomery Bus Boycott: My Personal Story" by Uriah J. Fields. Your Christmas purchase can be made on: www.amazon.com or www.bn.com.
