Lasting over a year, the boycott caused the Montgomery blacks much hardship and inconvenience. Black taxi drivers, in a show of solidarity, started charging their black customers the same fee as a bus ride, a quarter of the usual fare. Donations came in from across the country – including shoes to replace the worn footwear of those who walked for miles rather than accept defeat and board a bus. Some were assaulted on the streets, and the home of King was firebombed as well as a number of Baptist churches. King reacted to the attack on his home with his usual magnanimity: ‘We must love our white brothers, no matter what they do to us. We must make them know that we love them.’ The black community held firm. The bus service suffered – 75 per cent of its passengers were black.