The MIA was responsible for the successful Montgomery Bus Boycott from 1955 to 1956 (382 days) which lead to desegregation of buses. It was intended to last for one day after Rosa Parks refused to obey the city's policy mandating segregation on buses. King became known for his personal courage (his house was bombed and he was convicted on charges of conspiring to interfere with the bus companies operations) and outstanding communication skills. In December 1956, the United States of America Supreme Court proclaimed that Alabama's segregation laws were unconstitutional. In 1957, King presided over the newly founded Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in the continuing struggle for rights. During the 1957 Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, as the part of the president of SCLC, King stressed the importance of voting r ights for the Blacks at Lincoln Memorial. He was invited to West Africa for the celebration of Ghana's independence. In an effort to raise his understanding of Ghandi's beliefs, in 1959 he visited India.
SCLC began to teach students about the passive resistance technique in hope that they would use it. The students formed their own association, the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee. They staged sit-ins all over the South, the first being in 1960 when several students tried to integrate the lunch counter at Woolworth's in Greensboro. King identified with the crusade and spoke at the founding meeting in April of 1960. SNCC was like the SCLC but tended to be radical. They used King's ideals but wanted to separate themselves from the older leaders. They had no anxiety over being arrested, with the belief of jail, no bail. King preached that there were just laws and unjust laws and they had the right to go against the unjust laws. At one sit-in, King was arrested with all the students but was denied bail. President John F. Kennedy convinced those in power to release him.
