Who refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus, sparking the Montgomery Bus Boycott?

• A. Martin Luther King, Jr.
• B. Rosa Parks
• C. Orval Faubus
• D. Freedom Riders

Answer: (B)

Rosa Parks’ refusal to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama bus became the spark that set the Montgomery Bus Boycott in motion. On December 1, 1955, she refused to move to the back of the bus when the white section was full, was arrested for violating segregation laws, and her act of defiance drew together a community-led boycott of the city buses. The boycott, organized by the Montgomery Improvement Association and supported by leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., lasted 381 days and highlighted the power of sustained nonviolent protest. Its success helped lead to Browder v. Gayle (1956), the Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional, effectively desegregating Montgomery’s buses and energizing the broader civil rights movement. The other figures mentioned are important in the era, but Rosa Parks is the person whose individual act started the boycott.