During the first week in December 66 years ago, two momentous events happened in Montgomery, AL that sparked the modern Civil Rights movement and changed the history of our country. On December 1, 1955 Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white person on a city bus. By then she had already been a long time activist for racial justice as a member of the NAACP in Montgomery and been trained in nonviolent direct action at the Highlander Folk School. Her arrest catalyzed the Black community to plan a one day boycott of the city bus system on December 5 the day of her trial. It was so successful that Black church leaders planned a mass meeting that night at Holt Street Baptist Church where they would decide whether or not to continue the boycott. The historic decision to continue led to the famous Montgomery Bus Boycott that lasted for 381 days and became the campaign that introduced the nation to the young pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Martin Luther King, Jr.
While the result of the Montgomery Bus Boycott is well known, a part that often gets overlooked is the role of Christian faith as the foundation for that movement. At the mass meeting on December 5, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave the main address. Fortunately it was recorded and captured in the video posted below. While the entire video provides valuable insights into that historic campaign, I especially want to call your attention to the section from 6:17-9:32 in which Dr. King explicitly lifts up the faith base of this call to nonviolent direct action. As we look back 66 years later to that December of Destiny, we see the deep connection between Christian discipleship and nonviolent direct action for racial justice.
The Christian Church is in the season of Advent in which we prepare for the coming of the Prince of Peace. May the witness and legacy of thousands of people of faith who participated in the Montgomery Bus Boycott remind us of what it means to follow the way of Jesus in the struggle for racial justice today.