Standing Up for Justice

Sitting Down for Justice

By: Madalyn Paltzik

2019

On December 1st, 1955, Rosa Parks, a black woman, got on her usual bus in Montgomery, Alabama. The bus driver approached her and ordered that she give up her seat for a white person, for the whites-only section was filled. Rosa refused and stayed seated. “Our mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired of it,” said Rosa Parks. That same day Rosa Parks was arrested. Many black people were upset about how they were being treated so unfairly, and Rosa’s act inspired them. Four days later, the Montgomery Bus Boycott began.

Many members of the black community who were all tired of being treated unfairly just because of the color of their skin decided to stand together. These people, including Claudette Colvin, Mary Louise Smith, and many, many more, all stood up for justice.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott involved hundreds of people boycotting the Montgomery Bus System, and ultimately the boycott was successful and it ended on December 21st, 1956, having lasted for over a year. But what truly made it successful wasn’t Rosa Parks or Claudette Colvin, or even Mary Louis Smith. Not any of them alone. It was every single person that refused to give up their seat on a bus and boycotted the bus company together. It was every person standing together, even though it was hard, to stop this injustice. It was those that stayed sitting down to stand up for justice. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was successful because each person came together for what was right and just. They stuck to what they believed and worked together even though that was not easy. A difference was made by Rosa Parks, but success was achieved because all of them worked together for what was right.

What the Montgomery Bus Boycott truly showed was that if we stand, or rather don’t stand, for what is important to us, we can achieve success. Working together as a community makes a stronger impact on the world than one person standing alone ever could. The Montgomery Bus Boycott would have never achieved its success if it wasn’t for the many people that were dedicated to the boycott. Every single person who participated made an impact and drove the black community closer to finally ending this injustice.

Overall, justice was served for the black community because of the simple, but historic, act of refusing to give up a seat on a bus. But what made that small act enormous was that so many people did it together.

Learning about the Montgomery Bus Boycott has taught me a very large and important lesson that I believe everyone should hear. That lesson was that if we all stand together for what we believe in, we can make a difference larger than the difference any single person could make alone. We can make an impact on our world. The Montgomery Bus Boycott is just one example of that. What started as a small act of sitting down on a bus and not giving up your seat became the start of the boycott and a key part of the Civil Rights Movement. Things like the Montgomery Bus Boycott are the things that can change our communities for the better. It also changed my life, even though it did not directly affect me. After learning about the Montgomery Bus Boycott I learned that when people stand together, anything is possible. We are stronger together, as one community.

So if you find a little justice, no matter how big or small, stand up and make a difference.