Who was she?
Claudette Colvin was a civil rights activist in Alabama during the 1950s. She refused to give up her seat on a bus months before Rosa Parks' more famous protest.
Claudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939, in Montgomery, Alabama. On March 2, 1955, she refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. She was arrested and became one of four plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, which ruled that Montgomery's segregated bus system was unconstitutional. Colvin moved to New York City and worked as a nurse's aide.
QUOTE
“I knew then and I know now that, when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can't sugar-coat it. You have to take a stand and say, 'This is not right.'”
—Claudette Colvin
BUS INCIDENT
In 1955, Colvin was a student at the segregated Washington High School in the city. She said that she had had aspirations of being President one day. Colvin was a member of the Youth Council, and had been actively learning about the Civil Rights Movement in school. Colvin was returning home from school on March 2, 1955
Claudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939, in Montgomery, Alabama. On March 2, 1955, she refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger. She was arrested and became one of four plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, which ruled that Montgomery's segregated bus system was unconstitutional. Colvin moved to New York City and worked as a nurse's aide.
QUOTE
“I knew then and I know now that, when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can't sugar-coat it. You have to take a stand and say, 'This is not right.'”
—Claudette Colvin
BUS INCIDENT
In 1955, Colvin was a student at the segregated Washington High School in the city. She said that she had had aspirations of being President one day. Colvin was a member of the Youth Council, and had been actively learning about the Civil Rights Movement in school. Colvin was returning home from school on March 2, 1955
and got on a bus downtown. She relied on the city's buses to get to and from school, because her parents did not own a car because they were poor and lived in a poor part of Montgomery. She was sitting about two seats from the emergency exit in the coloured section. If the bus became so crowded that all the so called "white seats" in front were filled and a white person was standing, the African Americans were supposed to leave these seats and move to the back and stand if needed. When a white woman got on the bus and was standing, bus driver Robert Cleere commanded Colvin and three other black women in the row to move to the back. The other three moved, but a pregnant black woman, Ruth Hamilton, got on and sat next to Colvin.
The driver caught a glimpse of them through his mirror. "He asked us both to get up. Mrs Hamilton said she was not going to get up and that she had paid her fare and that she didn't feel like standing," recalls Colvin. "So I told him I was not going to get up, either. So he said, 'If you are not going to get up, I will get a policeman.'" The policemen arrived, and convinced a black man sitting behind them to move for Mrs. Hamilton to move back, but Colvin continued to refuse to move, and she was forcibly removed from the bus and arrested by the two policemen, named Thomas J. Ward and Paul Headley.
This was nine months before NAACP Secretary Rosa Parks was famously arrested for the same offense. When Colvin refused to get up, she was thinking about a school paper that she had written that day. It was about the local custom that prevented blacks from using the dressing rooms and trying on clothing in department stores. She said in a later interview that "We couldn't try on clothes," Colvin says. "You had to take a brown paper bag and draw a diagram of your foot ... and take it to the store.” "The bus was getting crowded and I remember the bus driver looking through the rear view mirror asking her to get up for the white woman, which she didn't," said Annie Larkins Price, a classmate of Colvin's. "She had been yelling 'It's my constitutional right'. She decided on that day that she wasn't going to move. “Colvin was handcuffed, arrested and forcibly removed
The driver caught a glimpse of them through his mirror. "He asked us both to get up. Mrs Hamilton said she was not going to get up and that she had paid her fare and that she didn't feel like standing," recalls Colvin. "So I told him I was not going to get up, either. So he said, 'If you are not going to get up, I will get a policeman.'" The policemen arrived, and convinced a black man sitting behind them to move for Mrs. Hamilton to move back, but Colvin continued to refuse to move, and she was forcibly removed from the bus and arrested by the two policemen, named Thomas J. Ward and Paul Headley.
This was nine months before NAACP Secretary Rosa Parks was famously arrested for the same offense. When Colvin refused to get up, she was thinking about a school paper that she had written that day. It was about the local custom that prevented blacks from using the dressing rooms and trying on clothing in department stores. She said in a later interview that "We couldn't try on clothes," Colvin says. "You had to take a brown paper bag and draw a diagram of your foot ... and take it to the store.” "The bus was getting crowded and I remember the bus driver looking through the rear view mirror asking her to get up for the white woman, which she didn't," said Annie Larkins Price, a classmate of Colvin's. "She had been yelling 'It's my constitutional right'. She decided on that day that she wasn't going to move. “Colvin was handcuffed, arrested and forcibly removed
from the bus. She shouted that her constitutional rights were being violated. Price testified for Colvin in the juvenile court case. Colvin was convicted of disturbing the peace, violating the segregation law, and assault. “There was no assault," Price said.
“ Everything changed”
"My mom and dad got me out of jail and my dad said, 'Claudette, you put us in a lot of danger,' " she recalls. "He was worried about repercussions from the KKK. So that night, he didn't sleep. He [sat] in the corner, with his shotgun fully loaded, all night."
When Colvin went to school the following Monday, she got a mixed reaction. Some students were impressed by her courage, while others felt that she made things harder for them.
"Everything changed," she says. "I lost most of my friends. Their parents had told them to stay away from me, because they said I was crazy, I was an extremist."
She wanted to fight in court
Other African-Americans had previously refused to give their seats to white passengers, says Hoose. "What was without precedent, though, is Colvin wanted to get a lawyer and she wanted to fight," he says.
The lawyer she chose was Fred Gray, one of two African-American lawyers in Montgomery at the time. After speaking with Colvin, Gray says, he was prepared to file a civil rights lawsuit to contest segregation on buses in Montgomery. But after discussing Colvin's incident with other local African-American community leaders, the community decided to wait, he says.
Colvin was just 15 and did not have civil rights training. Gray says the community was not quite prepared for Colvin's situation.
"Later I had a child born out of wedlock; I became pregnant when I was 16," Colvin says. "And I didn't fit the image either, of, you know, someone they would want to show off."
Nine months later, Rosa Parks did the exact same thing as Colvin. She was 42 years old, a professional and an officer in the NAACP. Hoose says Parks was the symbol that civil rights leaders were looking for.
"I knew why they chose Rosa" Parks instead of her as a symbol of the civil rights movement, Colvin says. "They thought I would be too militant for them."
"I knew why they chose Rosa" Parks instead of her as a symbol of the civil rights movement, Colvin says. "They thought I would be too militant for them."
Gray, who went on to represent civil rights icons Parks and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., says that Colvin is one of thousands of unnamed individuals who played a key role in civil rights history.
"Well, today, I'm-75-years old. It's good to see some of the fruit of my labor," says Colvin. "To me, I don't mind being named, as long as we have someone out there to tell our story."
In 1956, about a year after Colvin refused to give up her seat, Gray filed the landmark federal lawsuit Browder v. Gayle. This case ended segregation on public transportation in Alabama. The star witness was Claudette Colvin.
“ Everything changed”
"My mom and dad got me out of jail and my dad said, 'Claudette, you put us in a lot of danger,' " she recalls. "He was worried about repercussions from the KKK. So that night, he didn't sleep. He [sat] in the corner, with his shotgun fully loaded, all night."
When Colvin went to school the following Monday, she got a mixed reaction. Some students were impressed by her courage, while others felt that she made things harder for them.
"Everything changed," she says. "I lost most of my friends. Their parents had told them to stay away from me, because they said I was crazy, I was an extremist."
She wanted to fight in court
Other African-Americans had previously refused to give their seats to white passengers, says Hoose. "What was without precedent, though, is Colvin wanted to get a lawyer and she wanted to fight," he says.
The lawyer she chose was Fred Gray, one of two African-American lawyers in Montgomery at the time. After speaking with Colvin, Gray says, he was prepared to file a civil rights lawsuit to contest segregation on buses in Montgomery. But after discussing Colvin's incident with other local African-American community leaders, the community decided to wait, he says.
Colvin was just 15 and did not have civil rights training. Gray says the community was not quite prepared for Colvin's situation.
"Later I had a child born out of wedlock; I became pregnant when I was 16," Colvin says. "And I didn't fit the image either, of, you know, someone they would want to show off."
Nine months later, Rosa Parks did the exact same thing as Colvin. She was 42 years old, a professional and an officer in the NAACP. Hoose says Parks was the symbol that civil rights leaders were looking for.
"I knew why they chose Rosa" Parks instead of her as a symbol of the civil rights movement, Colvin says. "They thought I would be too militant for them."
"I knew why they chose Rosa" Parks instead of her as a symbol of the civil rights movement, Colvin says. "They thought I would be too militant for them."
Gray, who went on to represent civil rights icons Parks and the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., says that Colvin is one of thousands of unnamed individuals who played a key role in civil rights history.
"Well, today, I'm-75-years old. It's good to see some of the fruit of my labor," says Colvin. "To me, I don't mind being named, as long as we have someone out there to tell our story."
In 1956, about a year after Colvin refused to give up her seat, Gray filed the landmark federal lawsuit Browder v. Gayle. This case ended segregation on public transportation in Alabama. The star witness was Claudette Colvin.
NAME
Claudette Colvin.
OCCUPATION
Civil Rights Activist, Medical Professional.
BIRTH DATE
September
AGE
76 years old
PLACE OF BIRTH
Montgomery, Alabama, USA.
Claudette Colvin.
OCCUPATION
Civil Rights Activist, Medical Professional.
BIRTH DATE
September
AGE
76 years old
PLACE OF BIRTH
Montgomery, Alabama, USA.