February Topic #4

The True Story of Rosa Parks and the Montgomery Bus Boycott.

Who was Claudette Colvin?

While much focus on Civil rights history in Montgomery focused on the arrest of Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin, a civil rights activist, refused to give up her bus seat to a white passenger nine months before Parks. After her arrest, Colvin became one of four plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, ruling Montgomery's segregated bus system unconstitutional. Colvin later moved to New York City and worked as a nurse's aide. She retired in 2004.

Although not widely recognized, Claudette Colvin’s courage advanced civil rights efforts in Montgomery, Alabama. "Claudette gave all of us moral courage. If she had not done what she did, I am not sure that we would have been able to mount the support for Mrs. Parks," her former attorney, Fred Gray, told Newsweek."

After refusing to give up her seat, Colvin was arrested on several charges, including violating the city's segregation laws. Terrified in jail, she said, "I was really afraid because you just didn't know what white people might do at that time," Colvin later said. After her minister paid her bail, she went home, where she and her family stayed up all night out of concern for possible retaliation.

Because of her age, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People decided not to use Colvin's case to challenge segregation laws. She also had become pregnant, and they thought an unwed mother would attract too much negative attention in a public legal battle. Her son, Raymond, was born in March 1956.

In court, Colvin opposed the segregation law by declaring herself not guilty. The court, however, ruled against her and put her on probation. Despite the light sentence, Colvin could not escape the court of public opinion. Some branded the once-quiet student a troublemaker, and she had to drop out of college. Her reputation also made it impossible for her to find a job.

The True Story of Rosa Parks