WEBVTT - Way Black History Fact - She Was Arrested Before Rosa Parks!

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<v Speaker 1>It's time for the Way Black History Fact and Today's

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<v Speaker 1>Way Black History Fact is sponsored by Major Threads for

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<v Speaker 1>innovative fashionable sportswear Checkmajors Threads dot com and today I'm

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<v Speaker 1>sharing with you from biography dot com. Claudette Colvin is

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<v Speaker 1>a civil rights activist who before Rosa Parks, refused to

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<v Speaker 1>give up her bus seat to a white passenger. She

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<v Speaker 1>was arrested and became one of four plaintiffs and Browder

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<v Speaker 1>versus Gail, which ruled that montgomery segregated bus system was unconstitutional.

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<v Speaker 1>Colvin later moved to New York City and worked as

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<v Speaker 1>a nurse's aide. She retired in two thousand and four.

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<v Speaker 1>Colvin was born on September fifth, nineteen thirty nine, in Montgomery, Alabama.

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<v Speaker 1>Growing up in one of Montgomery's poorer neighborhoods, Colvin studied

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<v Speaker 1>hard in school, shared mostly a's in her classes, and

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<v Speaker 1>aspired to become president. One day, on March second, nineteen

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<v Speaker 1>fifty five, Colvin was riding home on a city bus

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<v Speaker 1>after school when a bus driver told her to give

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<v Speaker 1>up her seat to a white passenger. She refused, saying, quote,

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<v Speaker 1>it's my constitutional right to sit here as much as

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<v Speaker 1>that lady. I'd paid my fare. It's my constitutional right.

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<v Speaker 1>Colvin felt compelled to stand her ground. Quote I felt

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<v Speaker 1>like Sojourner Truth was pushing down on one shoulder and

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<v Speaker 1>Harriet Tubman was pushing down on the other, saying sit down, girl.

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<v Speaker 1>I was glued to my seat, she later told Newsweek.

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<v Speaker 1>After her refusal to give up her seed, Colvin was

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<v Speaker 1>arrested on several charges, including violating the city segregation laws.

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<v Speaker 1>For several hours, she sat in jail completely terrified. Quote.

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<v Speaker 1>I was really afraid because you just didn't know what

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<v Speaker 1>white people might do at that time. Colvin later said.

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<v Speaker 1>After her minister paid her bail, she went home, where

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<v Speaker 1>she and her family stayed up all night out of

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<v Speaker 1>concern for possible retaliation and court. Colvin opposed the segregation

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<v Speaker 1>law by declaring herself not guilty. The court, however, ruled

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<v Speaker 1>against her and put her on probation. Despite the light sentence,

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<v Speaker 1>Calvin could not escape the court of public opinion. The

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<v Speaker 1>once quiet student was branded a troublemaker by some, and

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<v Speaker 1>she had to drop out of college. Her reputation also

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<v Speaker 1>made it impossible for her to find a job. The

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<v Speaker 1>NAACP briefly considered using Colvin's case to challenge the segregation laws,

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<v Speaker 1>but they decided against it because of her age. She

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<v Speaker 1>also had become pregnant, and they thought an unwed mother

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<v Speaker 1>would attract too much negative attention in a public legal battle.

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<v Speaker 1>Her son, Raymond, was born in March nineteen fifty six.

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<v Speaker 1>Despite her personal challenges, she became one of the four

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<v Speaker 1>plaintiffs in the Browder versus Gail case, along with Aurelia

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<v Speaker 1>I believe s Browder, Susie McDonald, and Mary Louise Smith.

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<v Speaker 1>Jeanetta Reese, who was initially named a plaintiff in the case,

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<v Speaker 1>withdrew early due to outside pressure. The decision in the

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen fifty six case, which had been filed by Fred

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<v Speaker 1>Gray and Charles D. Langford on behalf of the aforementioned

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<v Speaker 1>African American women, ruled that Montgomery's segregated bus system was

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<v Speaker 1>un constitutional. Two years later, Colvin moved to New York City,

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<v Speaker 1>where she had her second son, Randy, and worked as

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<v Speaker 1>a nurse's aide at a Manhattan nursing home again. She

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<v Speaker 1>retired in two thousand and four. So just a neat

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<v Speaker 1>little fun fact for folks that were unaware that Rosa

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<v Speaker 1>Parks wasn't the first one to refuse to give up

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<v Speaker 1>her bus seat. That was something that a lot of

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<v Speaker 1>folks had gone through. She was just the most visible one.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, a lot of people it's hard to imagine

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<v Speaker 1>what it's like to live in a segregated society. But

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<v Speaker 1>you know, I want to remind folks that there are

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<v Speaker 1>a lot of people who are still alive right now,

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<v Speaker 1>people who are affected by the most recent election that

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<v Speaker 1>come from a time in this country's history where they

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<v Speaker 1>saw how a significant number of the population acted and

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<v Speaker 1>behaved toward black people. But for a lot of those folks,

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<v Speaker 1>it feels like okay, politics as usual, and that is heartbreaking. So, yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>there's a way black hass striefect