WASHINGTON (AP) — Claudette Colvin, whose 1955 arrest for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery bus helped spark the modern civil rights movement, has died. She was 86. Her death was announced Tuesday by the Claudette Colvin Legacy Foundation. Ashley D. Roseboro of the organization confirmed she died in Texas. Colvin was arrested months before Rosa Parks gained international fame for her own act of defiance on a segregated bus. A bus driver notified police on March 2, 1955, about two Black girls sitting near two white girls, which was against segregation laws. One of the Black girls moved, but Colvin, just 15 years old at the time, refused to comply and was subsequently arrested. She later became a named plaintiff in a landmark lawsuit that eventually outlawed racial segregation on Montgomery’s public transportation.
Pioneer of Civil Rights, Claudette Colvin, Passes Away at 86
Pioneer of Civil Rights, Claudette Colvin, Passes Away at 86
Claudette Colvin, known for her courageous act of civil disobedience that contributed to the civil rights movement, has died at the age of 86, as confirmed by the Claudette Colvin Legacy Foundation.
Claudette Colvin, whose refusal to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Montgomery in 1955 preceded Rosa Parks' iconic act of defiance, has passed away at 86. Her courage at the age of 15 was pivotal in the fight against racial segregation and her involvement as a plaintiff in a landmark lawsuit that outlawed such practices on buses.
