It’s arguably a sin of history, let alone Black History Month, that many people are unfamiliar with Claudette Colvin. She was Rosa Parks before Rosa Parks was Rosa Parks. Unfortunately, Colvin is just a footnote in the Civil Rights Movement when, in reality, she should be celebrated as a pioneer.
About nine months before Parks took a stand by sitting on a seat on a bus, Colvin did the very same thing. What is the difference between the two? Colvin was an unwed, pregnant teenager “during her proceedings,” and civil rights leaders were worried that such an image would be counterproductive to the movement.
“Later, I had a child born out of wedlock. I became pregnant when I was 16,” Colvin said in an interview with NPR in 2015 . “And I didn’t fit the image either, of, you know, someone they would want to show off.”
Nevertheless, Colvin’s act of defiance against a racist institution warrants praise and celebration even to this day. Parks may have received all the credit and glory, but Colvin pioneered the fight. Her contribution to the Civil Rights Movement began on March 2, 1955.