DAILY WORKER, New York, Feb. 23, 1956

* Martin Luther King Jr. indictment
* Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott
* Rosa Parks & other key figures arrested

This publication, The Worker, represents the official voice and ideological "mouthpiece" of the Communist Party USA (CPUSA) during one of the most volatile periods of the Cold War.
The front page has a headline that reads: "All Negro Pastors In Alabama Bus Boycott Arrested" (see images)
Original physical issues of The Worker from the 1950s are exceptionally rare today becuse the political climate of the McCarthy era compelled many subscribers to destroy their copies to avoid FBI surveillance and the professional ruin associated with possessing "subversive" communist literature.
Complete with 8 pages, some spine wear, otherwise in nice condition.

Background: On February 21–22, 1956, local Alabama authorities attempted to crush the Montgomery Bus Boycott by issuing grand jury indictments against 89 civil rights organizers—including Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Rev. Ralph Abernathy, Rosa Parks, and over two dozen Negro pastors—under an obscure 1921 state anti-boycott law prohibiting interference with lawful business. Rather than waiting to be hunted down, these leaders transformed an intimidation tactic into a powerful display of nonviolent civil disobedience by voluntarily surrendering at the Montgomery County Jail dressed in their Sunday best, backed by hundreds of cheering supporters. The event served as a major historical turning point: the mass arrests stripped away the fear of incarceration, galvanized the local Black community through the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), and backfired on city officials by attracting worldwide press coverage and national financial support. Dr. King’s subsequent trial and conviction in March 1956 drew intense spotlight to systemic segregation, ultimately sustaining the 381-day boycott until the landmark U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Browder v. Gayle declared bus segregation unconstitutional later that year.