WASHINGTON (AP) — Claudette Colvin, the courageous young woman whose defiance against segregation on a Montgomery bus sparked significant momentum for the modern civil rights movement, has died at 86. The announcement was made on Tuesday by the Claudette Colvin Legacy Foundation, with Ashley D. Roseboro confirming she passed away in Texas.
Colvin's act of bravery came months before Rosa Parks became an iconic figure for refusing to give up her seat. On March 2, 1955, while she was just 15 years old, Colvin was arrested when she declined a bus driver’s request to move to a different seat, which led to her arrest by police. This incident marked her as a pioneer of resistance against racial segregation.
Colvin also became a prominent plaintiff in the groundbreaking lawsuit that ultimately terminated racial segregation on Montgomery’s public buses, cementing her status as an important figure in American history.
Colvin's act of bravery came months before Rosa Parks became an iconic figure for refusing to give up her seat. On March 2, 1955, while she was just 15 years old, Colvin was arrested when she declined a bus driver’s request to move to a different seat, which led to her arrest by police. This incident marked her as a pioneer of resistance against racial segregation.
Colvin also became a prominent plaintiff in the groundbreaking lawsuit that ultimately terminated racial segregation on Montgomery’s public buses, cementing her status as an important figure in American history.
