Famed civil rights attorney Fred Gray, 90, represented Rosa Parks in 1955.
Joseph Rodriguez, News and Records
Byron Williams Winston-Salem Journal
I recently had the pleasure of listening to famous civil rights attorney Fred Gray explain how the Montgomery Bus Boycott was founded in 1955.
Gray recalled a meeting at the home of Jo Ann Robinson, an educator and activist in Montgomery, Alabama, on the evening of December 8, 1955.
Rosa Parks had been arrested a week earlier for violating the city’s segregation laws. In addition to Gray, who represented Parks, local NAACP leader Edgar Daniel (ED) Nixon was among the participants.
The original plan was a one-day boycott of the Montgomery buses held on December 5th. However, the success of the one-day boycott caused the group to think beyond their initial 24-hour ban. They founded the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA).
Gray cleverly suggested that Nixon serve as treasurer of the committee, given a leadership role in the Union of the Brotherhood of Sleeper Carriers.
In addition, Nixon’s relationship with union leader A. Phillip Randolph, who was to become the initiator of March 1963 on Washington, not only enabled the organization to raise funds nationwide, but also gave the efforts national recognition.
The association also needed a leader, a spokesman. Robinson said, “My pastor just arrived in Montgomery, but he can move people.” She was referring to Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., who was recently installed as the new pastor of Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. In hindsight, Robinson’s proposal was arguably one of the most profound and equally understated comments in America in the latter half of the 20th century.
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