How Claudette Colvin Took A Stand in
History:
Months before Rosa Parks, she took a stand against bus segregation in Alabama in 1955, when she was only fifteen years old. At the time, she was a part of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Youth Council, which is an African- American civil rights organization in the United States. A fifteen year old who took a stand against segregation, surprisingly, her actions were under shadowed by another woman (Rosa Parks) who refused to give up her seat in the bus, nine months after her. She didn't share her story with as many people as expected, which is one of the reasons she is not very well known around the world. She also served as a plaintiff in the legal case Browder vs. Gayle, which helped end bus segregation in Montgomery.
Her step towards history began when she was returning home from school on March 2, 1955. She was told to give up her seat to a white passenger, but refused. She said, "It's my constitutional right to sit here as much as that lady. I paid my fare, it's my constitutional right." She was later arrested and jailed, but bailed by her minister. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Youth Council considered using her case to end segregation, but they chose against it. Colvin was pregnant at the time, and they thought an unwed mother was negative attention, which would be bad for their case. Her son, Raymond, was born on March 1956. Her actions also had bad repercussions. She was avoided at school, and branded as a troublemaker. She wouldn't be able to get a job for a long time.
Her step towards history began when she was returning home from school on March 2, 1955. She was told to give up her seat to a white passenger, but refused. She said, "It's my constitutional right to sit here as much as that lady. I paid my fare, it's my constitutional right." She was later arrested and jailed, but bailed by her minister. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Youth Council considered using her case to end segregation, but they chose against it. Colvin was pregnant at the time, and they thought an unwed mother was negative attention, which would be bad for their case. Her son, Raymond, was born on March 1956. Her actions also had bad repercussions. She was avoided at school, and branded as a troublemaker. She wouldn't be able to get a job for a long time.