The boycott was done by students from the Historically Black Mission College in Birmingham along with some Whites and members of the Birmingham Jewish community. The history is riveting, if you think MLK and John Lewis were alone, the boycotters were very much alone and in peril. Their efforts brought the first real national attention to the struggle, as the Wall Street Journal wrote about the economic downturn the boycott caused. The boycott leader was a laid off autoworker who had gone to college during the layoff. Unfortunately PBS won't rerun the programming for another year, or hopefully during Black History Month, but it can be purchased from PBS, I think.
The history around early efforts at racial justice in Alabama and Mississippi is riveting. Before Doctor King, there was another minister that the segregationists and klan finally intimidated into leaving Alabama for a safer Cleveland Ohio. Trully heartbreaking to know that regular people took on the barbarity of segregation and often lost their lives before the issue gained national attention, they trully fought in the wilderness.
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