"Awakenings" focuses on the catalytic events of 1954-56. The Mississippi lynching of 14-year old Emmett Till led to a widely publicized trial where a courageous black man took the stand and accused two white men of murder. In Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks refused to yield her bus seat to a white man and triggered a yearlong boycott that resulted in the desegregation of public buses. Ordinary citizens and local leaders joined the black struggle for freedom. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference was formed. In response, many white southerners closed ranks in opposition to the burgeoning black rights movement. Racial discrimination finally became a political issue.