February 1, 2018

Born in Montgomery, AL on September 5, 1939, Claudette Colvin grew up in one of the poorest neighborhoods in her city. On March 2, 1955, at the age of 15, Claudette was traveling home on a city bus when she was told by the bus driver to get up from her seat so a white passenger could sit down. She refused. LIKE A BOSS! Instead, she replied, “It’s my constitutional right to sit here as much as that lady. I paid my fare. It’s my constitutional right.” She was arrested on various charges, one being violating the city’s segregation laws (rolls eyes). Because she was young and pregnant, the NAACP decided not to use her case to aide in challenging segregation laws.

Nine months later, Rosa Parks did her thing and boom, she made history for doing exactly what Claudette had done. However, in February 1956 Claudette was a part of a four plaintiff federal court case (Browder v. Gayle) where state and local laws requiring segregation on buses was, in fact, found unconstitutional. And when the case moved from the US District Court to the Supreme Court, the ruling was upheld. Three days after the Supreme Court decision, an order was issued to both Montgomery and the state of Alabama to abolish bus segregation!

And despite having to drop out of college, struggling to find a job, and NOT getting the rightful attention she deserved during the Civil Rights Movement, Claudette Colvin was able to move to New York and became a nurse’s aide, where she retired in 2004.