Claudette Colvin and the Montgomery bus boycotts

The woman who inspired Rosa parks

By DON WILBURN

donaldfwilburn@gmail.com

While most are familiar with the story of Rosa Parks, few know of the similar story that may have inspired her. On Mar 2, 1955, a 15-year-old high school student from Montgomery, Claudette Colvin, refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus. A familiar story indeed, but one that came nine months before Rosa Parks’ more widely known protest.

That day, while riding home from school the white section of the bus _lled up, leaaving a white woman standing, the driver ordered Colvin and three other black students in her row to move. While the others obeyed, Colvin stayed seated. Having recently completed an essay on the Constitution, Colvin was well aware that she had rights. She later said that since she had paid the same bus fare as the white people did ashehad the same rights.

The situation quickly became a stand off and eventually, plice were called, and Colvin was forcibly removed. Witnesses recalled that she fought like a “tigress,” though Colvin later said she went limp and did not resist.

Once inside the patrol car, the of_cers mocked her, made crude remarks, and humiliated her. Fearing for her safety, she distracted herself by silently reciting poetry, Shakespeare, and prayers.

Colvin’s arrest outraged many in Montgomery’s African American community. Civil rights leaders, including Rosa Parks, worked to raise funds for her legal defense, hoping her case could become a rallying cry against segregation. Some community members began avoiding buses in protest, and activists met with city of_cials to demand changes,.

However, when Colvin’s case went to triial in May 1955, the judge took a strategic approach. He dropped the charges of disturbing the peace and violating segregation laws but convicted her of assaulting the of_cers who arrested her. Since the case no longer directly challenged segregation, it couldn’t serve as the legal test case activists had hoped for.

Colvin’s youth, her reputation for being outspoken, and the fact that she lived in a poor neighborhood led many civil rights leaders to conclude she wasn’t the ideal _gure for a larger movement. Ultimately, they decided to wait for another opportunity,,one that would come later that year when Rosa Parks made her famous stand.

Though Colvin did not become the face of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, she remained involved in the _ght for civil rights. With encouragement from Rosa Parks, she continued attending NAACP Youth Council meetings and even became its secretary. Parks saw potential in her and frequently asked her to share her story.

A year after her arrest, Colvin would _nally have the opportunity to make a lasting impact. She became one of the plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, the federal case that ultimately led to the desegregation of Montgomery’s buses in 1956.

While history largely remembers Rosa Parks as the face of the bus boycott, Colvin’s courage and de_ance at just 15 years old is certainly a story that deserves to remembered.

Colvin, who is 85 years old now, is perhaps one of the most tragically overshadowed figures of the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s.

Photo property of Claudette Colvin