Bus To Freedom

Bus to Freedom

Bible Blast: Read 1 Corinthians 10:12-13

Let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up. Galatians 6:9

On this date in 1955, Rosa Parks got on a bus after a long day at work in Montgomery, Alabama. She paid her bus fare and took a seat in the middle of the bus. You see, Rosa Parks was an African-American, and this bus was segregated. The bus was separated into two sections: the “Colored” section in the back and the “Whites Only” section in the front.

On this particular day, Rosa sat in the very front seat of the “Colored” section. The bus filled up. When four white passengers got on and didn’t have a place to sit, the bus driver moved the “Colored” sign back a couple of seats behind Rosa and three other African-American passengers. He then told them to get up and move. After a little hesitation, the other three passengers around Rosa got up and moved to the back. But Rosa just scooted over toward the window.

The bus driver threatened to call the police and have Rosa arrested if she didn’t move. And that’s exactly what happened. The police took her off the bus and arrested her. Rosa didn’t stay in jail very long because someone paid her bail. But that’s not the end of the story.

The African-American community in Montgomery realized they needed to use this opportunity to do something really big. Led by a young pastor, Martin Luther King Jr., they organized a boycott against Montgomery’s public buses. No African-American man, woman, or child would use the bus to get to work, school, or any other place until the buses were no longer segregated. The Montgomery Bus Boycott lasted for more than a year! Since so many of the bus riders were African-American, the bus company lost a lot of money during that time.

On December 21, 1956, Rosa Parks boarded a Montgomery public bus and was able to sit wherever she wanted. All the hard work and perseverance of the boycott had worked!

Girl Gab: Do you ever get tired of giving in to bad stuff going on around you? Is it time to take a stand? (Or to take a seat, like Rosa Parks did!) Talk to your mom about some things you need to boycott in your life. And maybe you can check out a book about Rosa Parks at your library sometime this week to learn more of her story!