The 1953 Boycott That Inspired Rosa Parks Before Montgomery, before Rosa Parks became a household name, Reverend T.J. Jemison led 7,000 Black residents in Baton Rouge, Louisiana to orchestrate the first large-scale bus boycott in the segregated South. In June 1953, after the city revoked licenses of 40 Black-owned bus companies and raised fares by 50%, the African American community—who made up 80% of riders—turned their backs on city buses. For six days, they walked, carpooled, and showed the D