Trouble's Clarion Call for Leaders: Jo Ann Robinson and the Montgomery Bus Boycott

Abstract

Turbulent times are part of the human experience. They provide what Useem calls the “leadership moment” when one is given the opportunity to define who one is (1998). For Jo Ann Robinson, that leadership moment came personally in 1949, and publicly in 1955, when she transformed her trauma into a pro-social action of change (Williams & Allen, 2015). This article is a historical narrative inquiry into the life of Robinson who launched the Montgomery boycott and helped start the civil rights movement. The article tells the rest of the story beyond Parks and King, and explores the question: How did Robinson lead? With no authority, she empowered more than 50,000 African Americans to stand up and change their world. Introduction Troubles, trials, trauma, and tragedy – these are the realities of life as a human being. These turbulent times often showcase the worst in mankind, but there is another side. These same challenging moments can call forth the best in mankind, becoming the womb of leadership where would-be leaders choose to emerge. These times are, as Abigail Adams stated, the qualities, which “wake into life and form the character of the hero and the statesman” (Adams, 1780). They are what Michael Useem refers to as the “leadership moment” – a moment in a life when one is given the opportunity to define who one really is authentically, at the core (1998). Montgomery, Alabama provided that leadership moment for Jo Ann Robinson personally in 1949 and then publicly in 1955 to transform her traumatic experience into a pro-social action of change (Williams & Allen, 2015). Her action allowed her to help inspire more than 50,000 blacks to boycott the Montgomery’s bus line for the stated goal of protecting their rights and launching the civil rights movement. “Negroes have rights, too” (Robinson, 1987, pp. 45-46). This article is a historical narrative inquiry into the life of Jo Ann Robinson, the unknown leader of the Montgomery bus boycott, who helped provide the platform for a youthful Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to capture the attention of a nation, and launch the civil rights movement. The article explores the question: How did Robinson lead? In an era when women, especially African American women, did not lead, how did this woman rise to the challenge, embrace the crisis in her community, and empower over 50,000 African Americans to stand up for themselves? For the purpose of this study, leadership will be defined using a definition built on that of James MacGregor Burns and modified by Donald Phillips: “Leadership is leaders acting – as well as caring, inspiring, and persuading others to act” (1998, p. 23). True leadership involves taking action – caring about one another, inspiring each other to become their