Min Myint

Professor Ortega

Sociology 1

April 14, 2017

Montgomery Bus Boycott & Liberation Theology

Montgomery Bus Boycott is a movement involving African Americans refusing to ride

buses that allowed segregated seats on the bus. It all started with Rosa Parks, now considered

the mother of the freedom movement. In Montgomery, Alabama, African Americans were

required to sit in the back half of the bus and they are to give their compliance to Caucasians at

all time. However, on the 1st of December 1955, Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on the

bus to a Caucasian man because the front-half of the bus was full. Because Parks was sitting on

the front row of the back half, the man asked her to move to another seat. Instead of moving, she

remained in her seat and later, she was arrested and fined for not complying with the Caucasian

man. The public boycotts of the buses began when Parks had her court hearing. When news of

the boycott spread across the city of Montgomery, African American leaders joined the

movement who all created the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). They chose a 26-

year old pastor, named Martin Luther King Jr., as the president of the foundation. The aim was to

continue the boycott until the city meets their demands to abolish racial segregation on public

transportation. The boycott lasted for 381 days until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled buses to begin

integration on the 20th of December 1956.

The Liberation Theology was a movement in Southern America that strived for social

justice for the poor by using the Bible. The movement stated that the church should play an

active role in liberating the oppressed and the poor. The movement has similar characteristics
when compared to the Montgomery Bus Boycott in which both movements strived for the social

equality of the oppressed. While Liberation Theology fought for the oppressed and the poor, the

bus boycott fought for the victims of discriminations. In short, both movements fought for those

that were at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Both movements are also involved with religion

in one-way or another. Liberation Theology was completely based off of the Bible and demanded

the church to fight for the oppressed. During the bus boycott, churches were where African

Americans gathered to help and support each other.

The Montgomery Bus Boycott had a massive and positive impact in the civil rights

movements for African Americans. It tackled segregation in public transportation and also

spewed more anti-segregation movements in other parts of society. And it was a major stepping-

stone for Martin Luther King Jr., as he had his first role as a civil rights activist in the boycott.

He would go on to become one of the most influential civil rights activists after the movement.

Although the Liberation Theory movement didnt have much of an impact as the boycott, it

brought up the connection between social equality and religion. It showed how one could

achieve salvation by helping others achieve social justice in Latin America. The practice of the

movement can be seen in charity done by the church to help in third-world countries. One of the

most notable people that followed the Liberation Theology movement was Mother Teresa.