Claudette Colvin (born Claudette Austin; September 5, 1939) is an American pioneer of the 1950s civil rights movement and retired nurse aide. She sat in the colored section about two seats away from an emergency exit, in a Capitol Heights bus. [28], The Montgomery bus boycott was able to unify the people of Montgomery, regardless of educational background or class. "I was really afraid, because you just didn't know what white people might do at that time," Colvin later said. [26], Together with Aurelia S. Browder, Susie McDonald, Mary Louise Smith, and Jeanetta Reese, Colvin was one of the five plaintiffs in the court case of Browder v. Gayle. Even her mother beat her when she saw two white boys trying to make fun of Colvin. Colvin was a member of the NAACP Youth Council and had been learning about the civil rights movement in school. [Mrs. Hamilton] said she was not going to get up and that she had paid her fare and that she didn't feel like standing," recalls Colvin. Similarly, Rosa Parks left Montgomery for Detroit in 1957. She refused, saying, "It's my constitutional right to sit here as much as that lady. In 2019 a statue ofRosa Parkswas unveiled in Montgomery, Alabama, and four granite markers were also unveiled near the statue on the same day to honor four plaintiffs inBrowder v. Gayle, including Colvin. Quotations by Claudette Colvin, American Activist, Born September 5, 1939. Phillip Hoose. Claudette Colvin was a pioneering civil rights activist in Alabama during the 1950s. This was perhaps because she was only a teenager, and also because she became pregnant shortly after the incident. "use strict";(function(){var insertion=document.getElementById("citation-access-date");var date=new Date().toLocaleDateString(undefined,{month:"long",day:"numeric",year:"numeric"});insertion.parentElement.replaceChild(document.createTextNode(date),insertion)})(); Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Most people know about Rosa Parks and the 1955 Montgomery, Ala., bus boycott. A local civic organization, the Womens Political Council (WPC), had already voiced their concerns to city commissioners about the city bus lines poor treatment of blacks and sought a test case to serve as a catalyst for a large local boycott. Claudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939. The daily routine of life was a challenge for most. In July 2014, Claudette Colvin's story was documented in a television episode of Drunk History (Montgomery, AL (Season 2, Episode 1)). among numerous honors. 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