Today Martin Luther King Jr. has become an iconic figure. But when the Montgomery Bus strike began he was a young 23 year old minister with a family. He and other local ministers were reluctant to take a stand. The real power behind the movement was the women who depended on the buses to get to their jobs. Typically, when it succeeded the woman who was chosen to spark the protest was quietly ignored. Dr. Lisa Calderon is a University Of Colorado-Boulder professor who speaks on the history of black women.

Today Martin Luther King Jr. has become an iconic figure. But when the Montgomery Bus strike began he was a young 23 year old minister with a family. He and other local ministers were reluctant to take a stand. The real power behind the movement was the women who depended on the buses to get to their jobs. Typically, when it succeeded the woman who was chosen to spark the protest was quietly ignored. Dr. Lisa Calderon is a University Of Colorado-Boulder professor who speaks on the history of black women.