Why Do You All Push

My Resisting Being Mistreated On The Bus Did Not Begin With That Particular Arrest…i Did A Lot Of Walking In Montgomery.

People Have Said Over The Years That The Reason I Did Not Give Up My Seat Was Because I Was Tired. I Did Not Think Of Being Physically Tired. My Feet Were Not Hurting. I Was Tired In A Different Way. I Was Tired Of Seeing So Many Men Treated As Boys And Not Called By Their Proper Names Or Titles. I Was Tired Of Seeing Children And Women Mistreated And Disrespected Because Of The Color Of Their Skin. I Was Tired Of Jim Crow Laws, Of Legally Enforced Racial Segregation.

Many Whites, Even White Southerners Told Me That Even Though It May Have Seemed Like The Blacks Were Being Freed (by My Actions) They Felt More Free And At Ease Themselves. They Thought That My Action Didn't Just Free Blacks But Them, Too.

At The Time I Was Arrested I Had No Idea It Would Turn Into This. It Was Just A Day Like Any Other Day. The Only Thing That Made It Significant Was That The Masses Of The People Joined In.

I Will No Longer Act On The Outside In A Way That Contradicts The Truth That I Hold Deeply Inside. I Will No Longer Act As If I Were Less Than The Whole Person I Know Myself Inwardly To Be.