Claudette Colvin

Born: 1939 in Montgomery, Alabama.

At age 15, was arrested after she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white woman (9 months prior to Rosa Parks), her case helping lead to Montgomery Bus Boycott.

“I felt like Sojourner Truth was pushing down on one shoulder & Harriet Tubman was pushing down on the other—saying, ‘Sit down girl!’ I was glued to my seat.”

Her case was also integral part of Browder v. Gayle court case that ruled segregated buses were unconstitutional.

She doesn’t get much recognition in the civil rights movement but she was a feisty young woman who took a strong stand.

Said: “I knew then & I know now, when it comes to justice, there is no easy way to get it.”