Saori continues:
In Montgomery, Alabama, where the African-Americans were treated badly by the whites, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his time to his church duties. However, on Dec 1st, 1955, an event happened on a city bus that changed the status of the blacks and also Martin Luther King, Jr. to become a major civil rights leader. African-Americans could only sit at the back of a bus in seats if no white person wanted them. But one evening a middle-aged black African woman, named Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat. She was arrested and charged with breaking the segregation law. The black community was outraged but at the same time was filled with a new courage and pride. King, along with other community leaders, arranged to rescue Parks and plan a boycott of the city buses. Thousands of pamphlets were handed out saying, 'Don't ride the buses to work, to town, or to school. If you work, take a [Negro] cab or share a ride, or walk'. ( Bull, 14) Martin Luther King, Jr. was elected leader of the boycott. Enraged, the white authorities fought back and said the boycott was against the law. His home was bombed and he was arrested but this did not stop Martin Luther King, Jr.. The eyes of the country were on him. The boycott lasted almost one year. For 381 days the blacks walked to work, school, and church. They walked in rain and cold and in blistering heatwaves. Martin Luther King, Jr. walked with them, singing and praying until the white city leaders gave in and allowed them to sit anywhere. Then on Nov. 10th, 1956 the Supreme Court in Washington D.C. finally ruled that Montgomery's bus segregation laws were illegal. That night 40 carloads of hooded Ku Klux Klan, a secret white supremist group, drove through the Montgomery black neighbourhood trying to spread fear. The African-Americans refused to run or fight, they just waved back. Martin Luther King, Jr. had in a peaceful and orderly manner rallied his people to victory. He was now known as the greatest civil rights leader of his time. (Claybourne, 14)
However, the struggle did not end here. As President Kennedy had shown his support for Martin Luther King, Jr. and was planning to introduce a Civil Rights Bill, Martin Luther King, Jr. felt he needed to expose segregation even more and put pressure on Congress to pass the Bill. He agreed to speak in front of the Lincoln Memorial on Aug. 28th, 1963. Organizers hoped that 100,000 people would come out to hear him speak. But, that did not occur! Instead, over 250,000 African-Americans and whites came from almost every state in the Union - in buses, cars, trains, and airplanes they came, and marched on Washington D.C., singing along the way. This huge army, without guns, waited for famous civil rights leader to speak. (Peck, 66) His strong poetic voice echoed:
'We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating 'For Whites Only!'
'I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream!' (Wukovits, 67)