The Montgomery Bus Boycott was one of the first major successes in the Civil Rights Movement. It all started when Rosa Parks was asked to give up her seat for a white man. She refused, and was promptly arrested. This was the beginning of the boycott. Martin Luther King Jr. and the SCLC led the entire black population of Montgomery to take a stand against segregation in public transportation. For 381 days they walked biked and carpooled.
Many people helped with the effort. Dorothy Posey, who owned a parking lot with her husband, let blacks who were carpooling use it for free during the boycott. Rev. Robert Graetz preached to the boycotters, and helped drive them around. His car tires were slashed and his house was bombed three times. Schoolteachers wouldn't give homework on certain days so that the children could attend meetings at the Molton Street Baptist Church. The Montgomery Advertiser, a white newspaper put the boycott story on the front page. This helped the boycott effort tremendously. It got them the publicity and media exposure the movement needed to gain momentum. The boycott illustrated several things which civil disobedience requires. Action of the masses, non-violence, and the will to believe that things can change. Without these things civil disobedience in any form is rarely successful.