On Dec. 1, 1955, while riding home from work in Montgomery,
Parks refused to give up her bus seat to a white male passenger and was
charged with violating the segregation laws. Her arrest,
detention, and conviction—the fine was $10, plus $4 in court
costs—sparked
a year-long boycott of the bus system by Montgomery's black
community, led by a young Baptist minister, Martin Luther King, Jr. As the
boycott continued, the segregation laws were successfully
challenged
in federal court, and the city's buses were
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Rosa parks