Byron Williams
Winston-Salem Journal
I recently had the pleasure of listening to famed civil rights attorney Fred Gray explain how the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott was formed.
Gray recalled a meeting at the home of Jo Ann Robinson, an educator and activist in Montgomery, Ala., on the evening of Dec. 8, 1955.
One week earlier, Rosa Parks had been arrested for having violated the cityâs segregation bus laws. In addition to Gray, who represented Parks, local NAACP leader Edgar Daniel (E.D.) Nixon was among the attendees.
The initial plan was for a one-day boycott of the Montgomery buses that was held on Dec. 5. But the success of the one-day boycott prompted the group to think beyond their initial 24-hour prohibition. They formed the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA).