One of the turning points in King's life was the Rosa Parks bus incident. On December 1, 1955, Parks was riding the bus after a long day of work. She sat in the front of the section reserved for the "colored" people. In Montgomery, Alabama, the law stated that "whites" sat in the front of the bus and "blacks" sat in the back. As the bus filled with more and more people, the "white" seats were all taken which left some white men standing. The bus driver told Parks and three other black people to move to the back of the bus. Three of the four complied with the bus driver, but Parks said "no," she was not giving up her seat. She was immediately arrested and a few days later found guilty and fined. Outraged, civil rights activists and leaders of the black community met with Martin Luther King, Jr. at his church to formulate a response to Parks arrest. They felt a nonviolent approach was best and decided upon a one-day bus boycott. King led the people of Montgomery through what was to be a one day bus boycott through a 382 day revolt. In 1956, the Supreme Court barred bus segregation.
Inspired by this victory, and the growing civil rights movement, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference was formed. King was elected president to the group providing new leadership to the movement. Between 1957 and 1968 he traveled and spoke wherever he felt there were injustices, protests or action was needed. King wrote five books, traveled over six million miles and gave at least twenty-five hundred speeches during this time. He went to Ghana, learning about apartheid and then to India where he confirmed his thoughts on nonviolent protest:
"I left India more convinced than ever before that nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom."
In the early 1960's, the King family moved to Atlanta, Georgia to be near the Southern Christian Leadership Council and his father's church. As the civil rights movement gained speed, students had "sit-ins" at lunch counters, used "white" only drinking fountains and restrooms to get their desegregation point across. King protested and was arrested right along with these students. He also led a huge protest in Birmingham, Alabama, where in Kings' mind, was the most racially segregated city. This protest, due to the ugly response from the police, captured the world's attention and encouraged President Kennedy to introduce civil right legislation. King wrote his "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" during this period, which was his strategy for the black revolution, and developed a system to encourage black people in Alabama to vote. 250,000 people followed him in a peaceful march in Washington, D. C. where he gave his "I Have a Dream" speech and in 1963 was named "Man of the Year" by Time Magazine. At the age of 35, he was the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize.
In 1968, the daily grind of the civil rights movement - always being on the go, leading marches, going to jail, receiving death threats, was beginning to put a physical strain on King. In fact, he relayed how he was feeling to Jesse Jackson one night. Jackson spent quite a bit of time with King during the civil movement and can recall a time when King was feeling concerned with some troubles the movement was having. Before a meeting, King told Jackson, "I've had a Migraine headache for three days that won't stop hurting." In today's political climate, it makes me wonder what effect King's Migraines would have had on the civil rights movement?
