Thread by @ZinnEdProject

#tdih 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott began. One of most powerful organizing stories.
Yet many people associate it with isolated act by Rosa Parks, without context of Parks’ life of activism; decades of public transportation protest; nor the role of WPC. ⬇️
zinnedproject.org/news/tdih/bus-…

The call to action came from a flier produced by Jo Ann Robinson of Women's Political Council (WPC) and a few associates. They bravely mimeographed tens of thousands of leaflets to distribute across city. Read more at @NMAAHC nmaahc.si.edu/blog-post/jo-a… & watch "Eyes on the Prize."

This wasn't first protest against discrimination on public transportation. In 1955, Claudette Colvin & other woman took a stand.

There were hundreds of acts of civil disobedience & other protests, dating back to 19th century. Not a single story. See ⬇️
civilrightsteaching.org/desegregation/…

Young people can read about brave teenager Claudette Colvin (a member of the @NAACP Youth Council) in the book below and also in the YA book about Rosa Parks by @JeanneTheoharis & @brandycolbert (described in this thread.) zinnedproject.org/materials/clau…

"In truth, Montgomery Bus Boycott was a protest against racial and sexual violence, and Rosa Parks’s arrest was but one act in a life devoted to the protection & defense of Black people generally, and Black women specifically." via @dmcguire13 Read more ⬇️werehistory.org/rosa-parks/

Out of Montgomery’s 50,000 African American residents, 30,000-40,000 participated in the boycott. For 381 days, they walked or bicycled or car-pooled, depriving the bus company of a substantial portion of its revenue.

Read gripping "Daybreak of Freedom" zinnedproject.org/materials/dayb…

To maintain boycott, MIA was created. "Set up elaborate carpool system, designating 40 pickup stations across town. Police & local whites constantly harassed car pool with tickets & violence. But community pressed on."

More via @jeannetheoharis Read ➡️
rosaparksbiography.org/bio/the-boycot…

"One of city tactics to try to derail boycott was to dredge up an old law prohibiting organized boycotts. At end of Feb. 1956, city indicted 89 boycott leaders including Rosa Parks."

More via @jeannetheoharis Read at Rosa Parks bio website➡️ rosaparksbiography.org/bio/the-city-t…

There are many key people students can learn about in story of MBB. One is E. D. Nixon -- labor (Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters) and civil rights (@NAACP) leader.
Read here from Encyclopedia of Alabama ➡️
encyclopediaofalabama.org/article/h-1355

#Terrorism "Even after boycott’s successful end, Rosa and Raymond Parks still couldn’t find work [they had both lost their jobs about 5 weeks into boycott] & family continued to get death threats." -- @JeanneTheoharis
Read YA book via @BeaconPressBks zinnedproject.org/materials/rebe…

While there are many children's books on Rosa Parks and a few on MBB, there are few to recommend. Below & YA book above offer some exceptions, books that tell a people's history of the MBB. First is "Rosa" by Nikki Giovanni, illustrated by Bryan Collier. zinnedproject.org/materials/rosa/

We also recommend the story of Georgia Gilmore and the Club from Nowhere, a grassroots project to provide food and funds for the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

See picture book ⬇️For teacher background, read "Household Workers Unite" by @premillanadasen zinnedproject.org/materials/pies…

"Freedom Walkers" -- recommended for grades 5+. "Russell Freedman gives accounts of how much coordination and sacrifice went into conducting the MBB . . . using actual recorded words and deeds of the people to tell the story." zinnedproject.org/materials/free…

Check out the mixer lesson for grades 7+ by Bill Bigelow on long life of activism of Rosa Parks, based on the book by @JeanneTheoharis.

Bigelow writes about the lesson (and teaching it online) in article below in @RethinkSchools Art by @louisabertman. rethinkingschools.org/articles/teach…

Please help us defend the right of teachers to teach people's history and #TeachOutsideTextbook. The right-wing does not want young people to learn the history in this thread about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. #TeachTruth
zinnedproject.org/news/defend-te…