Claudette Colvin, unsung hero of the civil rights movement, dies at 86
Claudette Colvin, a key figure in the civil rights movement, has died at 86. Her death was confirmed by the Claudette Colvin Legacy Foundation. Decades earlier, her refusal to give up a bus seat helped challenge segregation laws in the US.
In 1955, a 15-year-old Colvin was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, after refusing to move from her seat near two white girls. A bus driver called the police when she violated the city’s segregation rules. Her arrest came months before Rosa Parks’ more widely known protest on the same bus system.
The NAACP later included Colvin as a named plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle, the 1956 Supreme Court case that struck down bus segregation in Montgomery. Though Parks became the public face of the movement, Colvin’s defiance played a crucial role in the legal challenge. The ruling marked a turning point in the fight against racial discrimination in public transport. Colvin’s actions at such a young age highlighted the injustices of segregation. Her bravery, though less recognised at the time, contributed to the broader push for civil rights in the US.
Colvin’s legacy endures as part of the legal challenge that dismantled segregated buses in Montgomery. Her early act of resistance paved the way for future civil rights victories. The announcement of her death has renewed attention on her role in history.
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