Montgomery Bus Boycott
description: The Montgomery bus boycott, which began after Rosa Parks was detained on December 1, 1955, was a 13-month nationwide demonstration that led to the U.S. Supreme Court declaring that segregation on public transportation is unconstitutional. The boycott was organized by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), whose president, Martin Luther King Jr., rose to prominence in the civil rights movement as the world's attention was drawn to Montgomery. The bus boycott set a precedent for other southern campaigns that followed and showed how nonviolent mass protest could successfully resist racial segregation.