Allison Acosta 7/1/23 Allison Acosta 7/1/23

Montgomery Bus Boycott Mythbuster Quiz

Quiz by Teaching for Change
Students are often taught the simplistic narrative that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in Montgomery, the buses were desegregated, and the Civil Rights Movement was launched. This quiz helps surface and challenge many of the myths about the boycott.

Josh Davidson 6/30/23 Josh Davidson 6/30/23

Transportation Protests: 1841 to 1992

Reading by Julian Hipkins III and David Busch
The struggle for the desegregation of transportation has a long history in the United States. This timeline outlines some key individuals and organizations who took a stand against segregated transit.

Allison Acosta 6/28/23 Allison Acosta 6/28/23

Claudette Colvin Goes to Work

Reading by Rita Dove
Poem about Claudette Colvin

Josh Davidson 6/27/23 Josh Davidson 6/27/23

The Rebellious Lives of Mrs. Rosa Parks

Lesson by Bill Bigelow
In this mixer lesson, students learn about Rosa Parks' many decades of activism by taking on roles from various times in her life. In this way, students learn about her radicalism before, during, and long after the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Mykella Palmer 6/27/23 Mykella Palmer 6/27/23

The Politics of Children’s Literature: What’s Wrong with the Rosa Parks Myth

Reading by Herbert Kohl
A critical analysis that challenges the myths in children’s books about Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Josh Davidson 6/26/23 Josh Davidson 6/26/23

Montgomery Bus Boycott: Organizing Strategies and Challenges

Teaching Activity by Alana D. Murray
In this activity for middle and high school, students act as organizers and learn about many of the challenges faced by the group who sustained the Montgomery Bus Boycott for 381 days.

Josh Davidson 6/25/23 Josh Davidson 6/25/23

What Julian Bond Taught Me

Reading by Jeanne Theoharis
Freedom movements don’t just happen, they are made—and not by charismatic leaders, but by everyday people possessing great courage. Reflections on what Julian Bond taught us about how social movements are built and sustained.

Josh Davidson 6/18/23 Josh Davidson 6/18/23

Teaching the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Reading by Teaching for Change
Students learn that Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat in Montgomery, the buses were desegregated, and the Civil Rights Movement was launched. The disconnect between Parks’ arrest and the 381-day boycott creates the illusion that it was a spontaneous response to her civil disobedience. This, however, discounts the strategic brilliance and courage of the African American community in Montgomery.

Josh Davidson 6/7/23 Josh Davidson 6/7/23

Children’s Book on Ella Baker: A SNCC Veteran’s Review

Reading by Judy Richardson
A critical review of the picture book, Lift as You Climb: The Story of Ella Baker.