Factual Friday: Claudette Colvin

 When I think of Rosa Parks I immediately think of her courageous refusal to give up her seat on the bus to a White person. What I didn’t realize was that Rosa Parks was one of many Black women who did this. Today’s edition of Factual Friday (or maybe I should rename it to “Women We Didn’t Learn About in School”) is about Claudette Colvin; a woman who refused to give up her seat 9 months before Rosa Parks in 1955.


                                                                                       (Photo from NPR.org)


According to NPR.org, “there were a number of women who refused to give up their seats on the same bus system. Most of the women were quietly fined, and no one heard much more. Colvin was the first to really challenge the law” (NPR.org). At the time, Claudette was only 15 years old. Take a moment to really internalize that, 15 years old. It’s easy to brush past that, you may think her age is not an important detail in this story but I think otherwise. It is both unbelievably inspiring and deeply saddening that Claudette was 15. On one hand, we can be inspired by the fact that one can effect change at any age. On the other hand, it is extremely upsetting that Claudette was put in this position. In an interview about this incident, Claudette explained that, “they picked me at the wrong time - it was Black History Month, and I was filled up like a computer...I felt like Sojourner Truth was pushing down on one shoulder and Harriet Tubman was pushing down on the other, saying, ‘Sit down girl!’ I was glued to my seat’” (Diversityinc.com). 

Claudette was arrested on account of violating Montgomery’s segregation laws. At the time, people had gotten lynched and cross burned for standing up to bus drivers and cops, the way Claudette had. She was in jail until the reverend at her church paid her bail. Between the harassment she faced on the bus, as well as after she was arrested, Claudette knew that she deserved justice. As stated by NPR.org, “she challenged the law in court, one of four women plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, the court case that successfully overturned bus segregation laws in Montgomery and Alabama” (NPR.org). 

All of this begs the question: why wasn’t Claudette more well-known? Why didn’t we learn about her in school, in addition to Rosa Parks? There are a couple different answers to this. First, the NAACP and other Black civil rights organizations felt that Claudette was too young to be the face of the movement, as that is a lot to put on a 15 year old. Another reason is that Claudette just did not want to talk about her experience in such great depth for a lot of her adult life. Due to these reasons, a lot of us are less familiar with her story. 

I do wish that Claudette’s story was told in school because I think it’s important for young people to know that they can effect change and pursue justice in their communities. Additionally, I think it’s important for us to learn about people who stood up for what was right, even when it was incredibly scary. It’s a good reminder for all of us that doing the right thing can sometimes be scary, risky and inconvenient. By Claudette taking that risk, we are better off today.


And with that, I wish you a Factual Friday and a fun weekend!


Xoxo,

Zoe



Sources:

https://www.npr.org/2009/03/15/101719889/before-rosa-parks-there-was-claudette-colvin

https://www.diversityinc.com/black-history-month-profiles-claudette-colvin-civil-rights-activist/


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