Before Rosa, There Was Claudette
Rosa Parks is undoubtedly one of the most inspirational key figures in the American civil rights movement, but our textbooks never talked about the legendary Claudette Colvin. Nine Months before Parks’ refused to relinquish her seat to a white passenger, 15-year-old Colvin didn’t budge when she was ordered to move for a white classmate who believed it was her constitutional right to take it from her.
The teen activist told Newsweek she was inspired by the strength of other African American heroes like Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman. She was arrested and given probation, with her record finally expunged in 2021 after the judge declared she was courageous, not a criminal. Colvin was also one of the plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle, which ended Alabama’s segregated bus system.