[16], Through the trial Colvin was represented by Fred Gray, a lawyer for the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA), which was organizing civil rights actions. NPR's Margot Adler has said that black organizations believed that Rosa Parks would be a better figure for a test case for integration because she was an adult, had a job, and had a middle-class appearance. Colvin sought to counter racial injustice at an early age. Claudette Colvin, a fifteen-year-old student, was arrested for . Survey data is powered by Wisevoter and Scholaroo,
On June 13, 1956, the judges determined that the state and local laws requiring bus segregation in Alabama were unconstitutional. Born to Mary Jane Gadson and C. P. Austin, Colvin and her family moved to Montgomery, AL, when she was eight years old. Her defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. February 27, 2022. Months before Rosa Parks, Colvin stood up against segregation in Alabama in 1955, when she was only 15 years old. [24] She was convicted on all three charges in juvenile court. [20] In a later interview, she said: "We couldn't try on clothes. Martin Luther King Jr. was born Michael King Jr. to Michael and Alberta King on January 15, 1929, in Atlanta, Georgia. Last Name Colvin #2. "So I told him I was not going to get up either. She had been sitting far behind the seats already reserved for whites, and although a city ordinance empowered bus drivers to enforce segregation, blacks could not be asked to give up a seat in the Negro section of the bus for a white person when it was crowded. I paid my fare, it's my constitutional right." She attended Booker T. Washington High School, and after a long day of . Colvin and Mary Ann Colvin. Her political inclination was fueled in part by an incident with her schoolmate, Jeremiah Reeves; his case was the first time that she had witnessed the work of the NAACP. Despite her personal challenges, Colvin became one of the four plaintiffs in the Browder v. Gayle case, along with Aurelia S. Browder, Susie McDonald and Mary Louise Smith (Jeanatta Reese, who was initially named a plaintiff in the case, withdrew early on due to outside pressure). This was a time of intense racial divide, and Colvin was a victim of it along with the rest. Although she defended her innocence on the three charges, she was found guilty. Colvin did so, but received a slap and a severe reprimand from her mother, saying that she was not allowed to touch white people. She was born on September 5, 1939. In 2021, 66 years after the charges were brought to the district court, Colvin's charges were dropped. Her dad made money mowing lawns, and her mother was a handmaid. And I just kept blabbing things out, and I never stopped. Born Lily Claudette Chauchoin, she went to high school in New York. I felt the hand of Harriet Tubman pushing down on one shoulder and Sojourner Truth pushing down on the other. We keep track of fun holidays and special moments on the cultural calendar giving you exciting activities, deals, local events, brand promotions, and other exciting ways to celebrate. The Civil Rights Leader was born on 5 September 1939 in Alabama as per wiki. Rosa Parks was a black woman who also refused to give up her seat on a public bus, but this incident took place nine months later. The verdict of this case was a historic step for African Americans, as it officially led to the end of segregation and the signing of the 14th amendment. cookie : true, The bus driver, Robert W. Cleere, ordered Colvin and three other women to vacate their seats. The record of her arrest and adjudication of delinquency was expunged by the district court in 2021, with the support of the district attorney for the county in which the charges were brought more than 66 years before. Her father mowed lawns, and her mother worked as a maid. That was worse than stealing, you know, talking back to a white person. [4] Colvin later said: "My mother told me to be quiet about what I did. Get our quarterly newsletter to stay up-to-date, plus all speech or video narrative bookings near you as they happen. Colvin moves to New York and starts working as a nurses aide. [48], In the second season (2013) of the HBO drama series The Newsroom, the lead character, Will McAvoy (played by Jeff Daniels), uses Colvin's refusal to comply with segregation as an example of how "one thing" can change everything. How much did the average black person make compared to the average white person on the same job? In fact, she attended segregated schoolsand rode segregated busesin Montgomery, Alabama. Claudette Colvin and her guardians relocated to Montgomery when she was eight. Claudette Colvin: The 15-year-old who came before Rosa Parks 10 March 2018 Alamy By Taylor-Dior Rumble BBC World Service In March 1955, nine months before Rosa Parks defied segregation laws by.