After working all day Rosa Parks boarded the Cleveland Avenue bus around 6 p.m. December 1, 1955, in Montgomery. She paid her fare and sat in an empty seat in the first row of back seats reserved for blacks in the "colored" section. Near the middle of the bus Rosa's row was directly behind the ten seats reserved for white passengers.
Rosa did not notice that the bus driver was the same man, James F. Blake, who had left her in the rain in 1943. As the bus traveled along its regular route, all of the white-only seats in the bus filled up. The bus reached the third stop in front of the Empire Theater, and several white passengers boarded.Blake told them that the front of the bus was filled with white passengers, with a few people standing.
He moved the "colored" section sign behind Parks and demanded that four black people give up their seats so that the white passengers could sit. Blake told them to make it easy on themselves and give up the seats. Three people moved and Rosa moves to another seat that was not in the black section. Blake said "Why don't you stand up". Parks said she didnt want to and Blake called the police.