Claudette Colvin was born on September 5, 1939 to C.P. Austin and Mary Jane Gadson in Birmingham, Alabama. She was then adopted by her great aunt and uncle Q.P. and Mary Ann Colvin. She grew up in Montgomery, Alabama.
Fifteen-year-old Claudette attended Booker T. Washington High School. She transported to and from school on the city bus. At that time buses were segregated with White passengers sitting in the front half and Black passengers in the back. If the front was half filled, and a white passenger needed a seat, all nearby Black passengers had to give up their seats, making a row available to the White passenger.
On March 2nd, 1955, Claudette Colvin defied this rule. She refused to give up her seat to a White woman, stating that sitting was her constitutional right. By her own account, her recent studies about Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth inspired her to take a stand.
She was arrested and taken to jail instead of being treated as a youth. She was bailed out by a minister of her church and taken home. She recalls that her father stayed up all night armed, fearing a visit from the Ku Klux Klan. She was taken under the wings of Rosa Parks, whom she knew from a youth NAACP group in the community. Rosa Parks and ally Virginia Durr began fundraising on Claudette’s behalf.
Charged with violating the segregation laws, disturbing the peace, and assault, her case was tried in juvenile court. Although fellow passenger Annie Larkins Price testified not having witnessed Claudette assault anyone, Colvin was placed on probation.
Civil rights leaders in the area began to step back from Claudette’s case, stating she may have been too young to handle the pressure of being in the public eye, and while unmarried she became pregnant a few months into the proceedings by an older man. It’s said they felt the media would have had a field day with her, painting her as a bad apple.
The only one who remained on her side was Rosa Parks, whom would go on to stage her own protest on a Montgomery bus nine months later. Being 42, married, a seamstress and a leader in her community, she was a preferred candidate for the community to rally behind. Her actions would spark the Montgomery boycott and she became the “Mother of the Civil Rights movement,” making Claudette an unsung hero for decades.
After giving birth to her son, Raymond, Colvin found herself shunned by the community. She packed up and moved to New York City where she became a nursing aid, and stayed in the role for 35 years until retiring in 2004.
In recent history measures have been taken to honor Claudette. There are streets named after her in Montgomery, Alabama and in New York. March 2nd was named Claudette Colvin Day in Montgomery, and her record was expunged in December 2021, 66 years after her arrest. Now at 84 years of age she lives in Birmingham, Alabama.
“History had me glued to the seat,” she says, tapping her shoulders. “It felt as if Harriet Tubman’s hand was pushing me down on the one shoulder, and Sojourner Truth’s hand was pushing me down on the other. Learning about those two women gave me the courage to remain seated that day.” ~Claudette Colvin
A native of Phoenix, Arizona Aundrea Sayrie is a firm believer in the power of words, faith and a strong spirit. Her greatest desire is to encourage those around her to discover and honor their truth, and to passionately live on purpose.
