The Intersection of Race and Class During the Civil Rights Movement: The Untold Story of Claudette Colvin

 Rosa Parks is a name you probably already know well, when it comes to the Civil Rights Movement and the bus boycott in Alabama. But before Parks, there was Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl that refused to give up her seat in 1955, sparking the flame for change. Claudette Colvin was not selected because of her darker skin color and because she was from the working poor. Although Colvin did not become the figure for the movement to desegregate public transportation, her contributions cannot go unnoticed. She went on to testify with three other women in the landmark 1956 federal suit Browder v. Gayle, which ultimately ended segregation on Alabama buses. This case was brought forth months after Rosa’s action. Fred Gray, the attorney for Colvin and then Parks stated: Claudette gave all of us moral courage. If she had not done what she did, I am not sure that we would have been able to mount the support for Mrs. Rosa Parks.