Excerpt from Bayard Rustin’s Montgomery Diary, February 24, 1956 | Bayard Rustin, an African American civil rights activist, traveled to Montgomery to advise Dr. King and support the bus boycott. He kept a diary of his experiences throughout the civil rights movement. February 24
42,000 Negroes have not ridden the busses since December 5.
On December 6, the police began to harass, intimidate, and arrest Negro taxi drivers who were helping get these people to work. It thus became necessary for the Negro leaders to find an alternative—the car pool.
This morning Rufus Lewis, director of the pool...explained that there are three methods in addition to the car pool, for moving the Negro population:
1. Hitch-hiking.
2. The transportation of servants by white housewives. 3. Walking.
Later he introduced me to two men, one of whom has walked 7 miles and the other 14 miles, every day since December 5.
“The success of the car pool is at the heart of the movement,” Lewis said at the meeting. “It must not be stopped.”
2. How did the community come together to ensure the success of the boycott?