Civil Rights pioneer pre-dating Rosa Parks dies at 86: ‘The courage to remain seated’
Civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin, who was arrested as a teenager for refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in Montgomery, Alabama, has died at age 86.
Colvin's death was announced on Tuesday by her family and the Claudette Colvin Foundation . Ashley D. Roseboro of the organization told the Associated Press that she died of natural causes in Texas.
"It is with profound sadness that the Claudette Colvin Foundation and family announce the passing of Claudette Colvin, a beloved mother, grandmother, and civil rights pioneer," the announcement reads. "She leaves behind a legacy of courage that helped change the course of American history."
Colvin was arrested at 15 years old for violating bus segregation ordinances, nine months before Rosa Parks gained international fame for performing the same act.
Colvin was riding the bus on March 2, 1955, while on her way home from high school. The front of the bus was reserved for white passengers and so she sat in the rear with other Black passengers.
When the white section became full, the bus driver ordered Black passengers to forfeit their seats to white passengers but Colvin refused.
She was learning about Black History in class and felt inspired by the abolitionists Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth, according to the Washington Post .
"History had me glued to the seat," Colvin said, recalling how it felt as though Tubman and Truth had their hands on her shoulders, giving her "the courage to remain seated."
Colvin was also one of four plaintiffs in the landmark case Browder v. Gayle that outlawed racial segregation on Montgomery's buses in 1956.
Although the case was successful, the record of Colvin's juvenile arrest was not expunged by the district court until December 2021, the foundation wrote.
"When I think about why I'm seeking to have my name cleared by the state, it is because I believe if that happened it would show the generation growing up now that progress is possible, and things do get better," Colvin said in legal documents reported by the Associated Press. "It will inspire them to make the world better."
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