- Born
- Birth nameClaudette Austin
- Claudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939 in Montgomery, Alabama, USA.
- In September 2016, the National Museum of African-American History and Culture, Smithsonian Institution, unveiled a permanent Rosa Parks exhibit.
No such permanent exhibit was made for Claudette Colvin, who was not present at the formal Grand Opening Dedication Ceremony for the Museum held on 24 September 2016. She had not even been invited.
For many, her story is still not yet known. Her undeniable contribution to the American Civil Rights Movement - not only in action, but also in principle and philosophy - is still not yet given the memory, honor, and respect which it deserves. - Colvin never married but gave birth to two sons, the first was Raymond Colvin (b. December 1955, died 1993).
- In July 2014, Claudette Colvin's story was documented in a television episode of Drunk History (Montgomery, AL (Season 2, Episode 1)). The young Ms. Colvin was portrayed by actress Mariah Iman Wilson.
- In 1955, at age 15, Claudette Colvin was the first African-American person arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated public bus to a white passenger.
- The historic court case to which Claudette Colvin became one of five plaintiffs, Browder v. Gayle, 142 F. Supp. 707 (1956), was the case heard by the Supreme Court, putting an end to legally enforced segregation on public buses in the American South. The remaining plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle were Aurelia S. Browder, Susie McDonald, Mary Louise Smith, and Jeanetta Reese. The plaintiffs' lawyer was Fred D. Gray, an African-American attorney who was also born and raised in Montgomery, Alabama, who also later represented Rosa Parks.
Browder v. Gayle, in which Rosa Parks was not a plaintiff, however, was the legal case whose verdict historically integrated public buses in Montgomery County, Alabama.
As an attorney for the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), Fred D. Gray had also represented Ms. Colvin in the initial case of her arrest in the Montgomery Circuit Court.
- My mother told me to be quiet about what I did. She told me to let Rosa be the one. White people aren't going to bother Rosa; they like her.
- Little by little, I began to form a mission for myself. I was going to be like Harriet Tubman and go North to liberate my people. I admired Harriet Tubman more than anyone else I read about - her courage, the pistol she wore, the fact that she never lost a passenger on the Underground Railroad. I wasn't going to go to Alabama State College, where they taught you how to teach school, but didn't teach you how to get your freedom.
- I knew then and I know now that, when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it. You can't sugarcoat it. You have to take a stand and say, "That is not right." And I did.
- When I look back now, I think Rosa Parks was the right person to represent that movement at that time. She was a good and strong person, accepted by more people than were ready to accept me. But I made a personal statement, too, one that she didn't make and probably couldn't have made. Mine was the first cry for justice, and a loud one. I made it so that our own adult leaders couldn't just be nice anymore...
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content