BATON ROUGE — Over 70 years ago, the Baton Rouge Bus Boycott paved the way for later boycotts like the famed Montgomery Bus Boycott which played a crucial role in the Civil Rights Movement.

Florence Porter was turning 12 the summer the boycott took place in 1953. She said she remembers having to stand on the bus even if the seats in the whites-only section were empty.

“It made you feel less than human. It made you feel as if you didn’t matter,” Porter, a Baton Rouge native, said.

In early 1953, bus fares increased and upset a lot of black people. Rev. T.J. Jemison, a pastor at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, was one of the leaders who pushed back against the riding rules.

Porter said she recalls attending one of the mass meetings at Mt. Zion. She said children even joined adults at the planning meeting.

“Mt. Zion Sanctuary would be packed with Black people. My mother and my father brought my brother and me. They never said it but this is something they felt was historic,” Porter said.

In June 1953, the boycott lasted a week. Black people did not ride the bus and instead took advantage of "free ride" vehicles or walked.

“I could see black people walking around with their heads held high. I remember Ms. Ida Freeman. Ms. Freeman had just gotten a brand new Cadillac, and she was using that to transport people wherever they go, and that was a good feeling,” Porter said. 

The short-lived boycott eventually caught the attention of Martin Luther King Jr. and it became the foundation of the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott he helped organize with other civil rights leaders.

“God had somebody who could see what happened here like Dr. King saw what happened here, and was able to use what we did as a foundation for what he did,” Porter said.

Porter said the boycott brought those wanting a change together with the common goal of fighting for what's right and creating a lasting legacy.

“All of this was to help my people, to make my people see for themselves, help them to be what God intended them to be,” Porter said.