- Before Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin took a stand by staying seated on a Montgomery, Alabama bus in March, 1955.
- Colvin lived through segregation.
- A movie is being filmed, highlighting Colvin's story. Meanwhile, she's retired in the Coastal Bend.
Many people may not be aware that a hero is living among us in the Coastal Bend. Claudette Colvin is a retired nurse aide. The 84-year-old may seem to be living a quiet life in South Texas, however, Hollywood has taken an interest in her story. A movie is being filmed about her, and it will highlight her courageous actions which changed the course of history during a time of injustice.
Before Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin took a stand by staying seated
KRIS 6 News walked down memory lane with Claudette Colvin. She said she endured many struggles throughout her early life whenJim Crow Laws were enforced. Jim Crow Laws legalized racial segregation.
"Although, they said separate but equal, everything was separate and unequal," she exclaimed. "Color signs were tacked on the doors of restaurants. They were in stores. We had to go to the color section, just to get an ice cream cone."
A Montgomery City law also required racial segregation on public transportation. Colored passengers were required to sit towards the back of buses. Front seats were reserved for white passengers. A white passenger and a black passenger couldn't even sit across the same aisle from each other.
On March 2, 1955, Claudette challenged the segregation rules. Nine months before Rosa Park's arrest, Colvin was taking a bus home from school when the driver ordered her and three other black students to give up their row of seats to a white passenger. She said, her three classmates reluctantly moved. However, Colvin refused. She was 15 years old at the time.
"I was near the window in the opposite aisle," she explained. "So, if this lady wanted to sit down she could've sat opposite of me. But she wasn't going to sit opposite of me."
Colvin said she would've gotten up if the lady was elderly. She described the person as a young woman. Claudette's action was considered defiant at the time and it led to her arrest.
"The squad car policemen came on the bus and asked me why I was sitting there and I said, "it's my constitutional rights!" she exclaimed. "They done knocked my books out of my lap, they grabbed my arm and they manhandled me off the bus."
Colvin insists she did not move when police escorted her from the bus to the jail. One of her charges says otherwise. Colvin was charged with violating segregation law, disorderly conduct, and assaulting a police officer. The first two charges listed were dropped. However, her charge for assaulting a police officer stayed on her record until it was expunged more than six decades later, in 2021.
"When I got back to school, they said, "Claudette, you is crazy, you is crazy." They could've killed you." And I said, "I didn't think about that. I didn't think about death at that time."
Instead, her mind lingered on lessons from her teachers. In school, she learned about prominent figures of the past who fought for justice. Colvin believes February's Black History Month lessons ignited her courage to take a stand.
"I could not get up because history had me glued to the seat," she said. "Hariette Tubman was my favorite because she was a brave woman. She led a lot of Africans to freedom."
Colvin herself is considered a pioneering activist, part of the movement to fight for equality. She is currently one of two survivors of the first federal court case challenging bus segregation in Montgomery. The Supreme Court ruled bus segregation was in violation of the 14th Amendment in the Browder v. Gayle case.
"I survived. I do believe Jesus was standing by me. Jesus sent me an angel to protect me because I was doing the right thing." she said.
Hollywood Highlighting Claudette Colvin
The public will be able to witness Ms. Colvin's heroic moment in history on the big screen with a movie called Spark. Anthony Mackie, best known for his role as Sam Wilson in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), will direct the film. It will star Saniyya Sidney, who will portray Claudette Colvin. The movie's release date has not been announced.
Colvin said, "I just want God to let me able to live long enough to see it produced."
Hope for the future
No matter how many times or different ways Colvin's story is retold, she hopes it will help more people learn about the past to better the future. She also hopes her experience will inspire younger generations to fight for what they believe is right.
She added, "I want people to know, we've had triumphs and we have had failures. But everything left undone, we want them to pick up the torch and carry it on."
