Only Light Can Do ThatSample

"They came to see that it was ultimately more honorable to walk the streets in dignity than to ride the buses in humiliation." Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In the 1950s, riding the bus in Montgomery, Alabama, was an awful experience for Black people. They had to pay the bus fare in the front of the bus. Then they had to get off and enter the bus again through the back door. There was a section of the bus in the back for Black people—they couldn’t choose where to sit. And if the bus filled up, Black people were expected to give up their seats for White people and stand.

Dr. King became a pastor in 1954 in Montgomery. He had lived there for a year when Rosa Parks refused to let a White passenger take her seat on a bus. She disobeyed the law that allowed segregation on buses, and she was arrested.

Black residents were tired of being treated as if they had no worth. After Rosa’s arrest, they decided to boycott the buses. Beginning December 5, 1955, they did not take buses anywhere. They chose Dr. King to be the spokesperson for the boycott. Through this event, he became a nationally known civil rights leader.

Most Black people in Montgomery did not have access to cars. They walked to jobs, to church, to buy groceries. Some workers were fired for participating in the boycott. Some were arrested and put in jail. But even with all of these sacrifices, Black people stayed off the buses.

The city found out exactly how much Black customers were worth: they lost 30,000–40,000 fares per day, every day for over a year. The boycott ended after 381 days on December 20, 1956, when the city removed segregated seating. That same year, the Supreme Court ruled against segregated busing. The Black people of Montgomery maintained their dignity.

In the Bible’s book of Acts, the apostle Peter looked down on Gentiles. He thought they were worth less than Jewish people like him. But God came to him in a dream to tell him that Gentiles were equal to Jews. He directed Peter to welcome Gentiles into the family of God. When Peter woke up, three Gentiles showed up at his door. Peter quickly realized God wanted him to go with the men. Peter’s obedience led to many people becoming Christians.

God created humans in His image (Genesis 1:27), so we should feel worthy! Living under segregation laws stripped dignity from Black people. When the people of Montgomery were fed up with their worth being challenged, they fought back. When you encounter people who try to strip you or others of dignity, fight back with truth.

Fight for the worth of all people.

Dear God, thank You for fighting to preserve our worth.