Whenever she could, Parks avoided riding the bus. City laws gave bus drivers the same powers as law enforcement, and Black riders experienced open discrimination and violence in the Montgomery transportation system. Every bus driver enforced the rules differently. Some required Black passengers to enter from the back of the bus after paying their fares in the front. Some forced Black riders to stand while seats remained empty.

After her historical act of resistance, Parks made a point of noting the number of other Black resisters who came before her. Numerous stories of Black passengers who refused to succumb to the arbitrary and discriminatory practices on buses preceded her. In many of these cases, these Black passengers were treated violently and even arrested. However, judicial systems were careful not to charge them in a way that would violate federal segregation laws. While Parks worked as secretary for the NAACP, she carefully took the details of each of these cases. She took note of the price of each individual activist’s bravery and resistance. Several of them paid with their lives. She also witnessed her own mother challenging a bus driver who told her to move after she sat down next to a white passenger.