The 44th President
“I have a dream,” are words that every American knows, that every American uses to refer to Martin Luther King Jr. without these words our nation would not be where it is today. On August 28th, 1963 King and his supporters marched from the Washington mall all the way to the Lincoln monument where speeches were made and lives were changed this was called the March on Washington. Many people accredit Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. for what changed the United States view on race, but many other African American influences helped King along the way.
Rosa Parks was a well known African American activist in the community of Montgomery. On December 1, 1955 this African American woman made a stand. She refused to get up from a bus seat for a white passenger. Parks was arrested and jailed that day. Jo Ann Gibson Robinson, an English teacher at Alabama State College and a member of the black Women’s Political Council (WPC) was the first to make a vital effort of organizing the African American community of Montgomery. With help from her colleagues, WPC members, and students they were able to organize a boycott of city buses on Monday, December 5th, 1955. The group passed out leaflets early Friday morning before the boycott stating things like,
“Another Negro woman has been arrested and thrown in jail because she refused to get up out of her seat on the bus for a white person to sit down.”
“Three- fourths of the riders are Negroes, yet we get arrested or have to stand over empty seats.”
“Don’t ride the buses to work, to town, to school, or anywhere on Monday.” Jo Ann Gibson Robinson, Document Set 28-1 pg. 407.
Although the black community seemed to be behind the boycott many were still cautious about letting the news spread to white Americans. Most of the black community memorized the leaflet then destroyed the evidence. One black woman felt the need to be loyal to her “white lady” by giving her the...