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In March 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks defied segregation laws by refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin did exactly On March 2nd, 1955, a 15-year-old Claudette Colvin was arrested for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama. Right about now you might be thinking, “Um, I think you mean Rosa Parks.” But actually, Park’s arrest came nine months later — on December 1st of that year. Most people know about Rosa Parks and the 1955 Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott. Nine months earlier, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin refused to give up her seat on the same bus system. Claudette Colvin is an American woman who was arrested as a teenager in 1955 for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white woman. Her protest was one of several by Black women challenging segregation on buses in the months before Rosa Parks’s more famous act. Parks made Colvin secretary of the council, trying to nurture the young woman’s spirit and budding leadership. Claudette Colvin recalled that she only went to Youth Council meetings “if I could get a ride” and sometimes she would “stay overnight at Rosa’s — she lived in the projects across the street.” Colvin’s Stance Paved the Way. Colvin feels her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement have been largely forgotten. When asked why her arrest did not have the impact Parks’ did, she often sites five reasons. First, Colvin was a minor and Parks was an adult—Parks seemed more trustworthy as the face of a movement than a kid would have been. Rosa Parks didn’t wake up one day with the intention of being the face of the Civil Rights Movement. It was the accumulated work of many, like Claudette, who paved the way for her. The failure to elevate Claudette’s contribution to the movement for decades is a painful reminder of the ways in which young Black women’s voices are often In the chronicles of the Civil Rights Movement, one name remains regrettably shrouded by the obscurity of history – Claudette Colvin. Aged just 15, this fiery teenager, imbued with the spirit of resistance, defied the oppressive conventions of a racially segregated Montgomery, Alabama, a full nine months before the more famous act of defiance by Rosa Parks. On March 2, 1955, Claudette stood History remembers the bold.Alexander the Great, Marie Curie and Neil Armstrong are all remembered for their audacity, discoveries and exploration. But sometimes, a figure slips through the cracks.While Rosa Parks is celebrated for her refusal to give up her bus seat, Claudette Colvin’s identical act of defiance in the same city nine months earlier has been all but forgotten. City & State’s Jeff Coltin talked to Colvin about life in the Jim Crow South, being passed over and the current state of the movement. The following is an edited transcript. City & State: March 2, 1955. Why did you decide at that moment not to give up your seat? Claudette Colvin: It was just another day. That evening we got out of school early. Why, then, do so few people know her story today? Why did Rosa Parks become the face of the Montgomery Bus Boycott later in 1955 instead of Colvin? The leaders of the Civil Rights Movement believed Rosa Parks was more likely to receive sympathy from the public—and especially from white people—than Claudette Colvin. There were many reasons In March 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks defied segregation laws by refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin did exactly the same thing. Eclipsed by Parks, her act of defiance was largely ignored for many years. In August 1955, Parks was devastated to hear the news that a 14-year-old Chicago boy named Emmett Till had been lynched in Mississippi for making a comment to a white woman, Carolyn Bryant. Bryant’s husband Roy and brother-in-law J.W. Milan kidnapped the boy from his uncle’s house, tortured him and killed him. Till’s mother had View Article Some may argue to have used Colvin as the icon, since she was the first to defy that law in such a way and since she was 15 to show the injustice to younger kids and women. Rosa Parks, however, was the best candidate to start the revolution. To conclude, we may not have been where we are without Claudette Colvin's bravery. In 1932 she married Raymond Parks, a barber and member of the NAACP. At that time, Raymond Parks was active in the Scottsboro case. In 1943 Rosa Parks joined the local chapter of the NAACP and was elected secretary. Two years later, she registered to vote, after twice being denied. By 1949 Parks was advisor to the local NAACP Youth Council. You may think you know the story, but this one isn't about Rosa Parks — it's about Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old who made a stand against entrenched segregation nine months before Parks did Claudette Colvin (born Claudette Austin; September 5, 1939) [1] [2] is an American pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement and retired nurse aide.On March 2, 1955, she was arrested at the age of 15 in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a crowded, segregated bus. Rosa Parks (1913—2005) helped initiate the civil rights movement in the United States when she refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in 1955. Her actions In March 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks defied segregation laws by refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, 15-year-old Claudette Colvin did exactly This was nine months before Rosa Parks refused to move on the bus in Montgomery. Parks knew Colvin from the NAACP Youth Council and was inspired in part to take her action by Colvin. (Learn more in The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks: Young Readers Edition.) There is a lot of misinformation about Colvin’s story.
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