Leaders urge action at mass meeting, 70 years after bus boycott

Black-sequined jackets glinted under the warm white lights of Holt Street Memorial Baptist Church. The bass lines buzzed off of stained-glass windows and the snare drum rattled in the chests of all the patrons present in the church as the MGM United Mass Choir commanded the room with song.

The show of musical prowess and praise for God was not just an ordinary Friday night church gathering. December 5 marked the anniversary of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the mass meeting at Holt Street Memorial Baptist Church sought to commemorate what the community accomplished 70 years ago, as well as acknowledge how far civil rights activism has to go.

Practitioners of multiple major faiths, activists and city officials joined special guests including Alabama's poet laureate, a few faces involve