Claudette Colvin's Contributions

Claudette Colvin is a black rights activist who was born on September 5 1939 in Montgomery, Alabama. She was adopted by C.P. Colvin and Mary Anne Colvin. Her dad made money mowing lawns, and her mother was a handmaid. She was raised in a poor neighborhood where she realized the separation of whites and blacks. Colvin was slapped by her mother for interacting with a group of young white males. Years later, when she was fifteen, Colvin was getting out of Martin Luther King Jr.’s Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, when she got on a bus. The events that took place on that bus would impact her life. While riding the bus, the driver ordered her to give up her seat for a white person. Colvin’s friends immediately gave up their seats, however, Colvin refused and she was arrested. At the time Colvin went to Booker T. Washington High School, which she had to drop out of after her arrest. She was arrested by police, and were to stand trial. She was at first supported by Women’s Political Council, as well as National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. On May 6th, Claudette Colvin Whoever it was Rosa Park’s case that managed to unite the black community. “Colvin was considered and dismissed -- some say because it turned out she was pregnant (after her arrest), some say it was because she was poor and of a lower caste in the black community (because of her darker skin)”.
(http://www.infoplease.com/biography/var/claudettecolvin.html)
Claudette Colvin was an incredibly important part of the Civil Rights movement, although many people don’t know of her importance.
It is very possible that the Civil Rights movement would have been drastically different without her actions. After she refused to give up her bus seat to a white person, she was dragged off the bus and arrested (Hoose 34). The arrest on the bus helped support Rosa Parks’ actions on the Montgomery bus. It is possible that without the support of Colvin’s actions, the Civil Rights movement could have gone very
differently.