BHM: Claudette Colvin

Claudette Colvin was a brave young woman who refused to give up her seat on a segregated Alabama bus, months before well-known civil rights activist Rosa Parks did so.

Colvin was born on September 5, 1939. She attended segregated schools and rode segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama. In early 1955, Colvin’s class was learning about Black history. More specifically, the 14th Amendment, as well as famous Black icons like Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. Colvin took these lessons to heart, as they influenced her actions.

On March 22, 1955, Colvin boarded a Montgomery public bus on her way home from school. Soon, a group of white people boarded the bus and the driver told Colvin and her fellow Black students to move. The other students gave up their seats, moving farther back in the bus. But Colvin refused to stand. Instead of moving, Colvin cited the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and told the bus driver she had the right to keep her seat because she paid for the ride just as the white passengers had.

Later, Colvin shared, “It felt like Sojourner Truth was on one side pushing me down, and Harriet Tubman was on the other side of me pushing me down. I couldn’t get up.”

Soon, police arrived. dragging Colvin from the bus as she shouted that her rights were being violated. The officers locked her in a jail cell where she stayed for hours until her mother and minister came to take her home. All of this happened just nine months before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on another Montgomery bus.

According to resources from the National Education Association, Colvin’s story is not as well known as Parks because she was only 15 years old at the time and had darker skin. Civil rights leaders knew that if Colvin became the face of the moment, she would likely face even worse biases than Parks.

Today, Colvin lives in Texas, and it wasn’t until 2021 that her record was finally cleared of charges related to the incident.