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A Thread about Claudette Colvin
If you are collectively asking yourself " Who is she?
You are making my point.
If you are collectively asking yourself " Who is she?
You are making my point.
Claudette Colvin was one of the first woman arrested for refusing to give up her seat on the bus - 9 months before Rosa Parks.
She was the first woman to really challenge the law- and push hard against the legality of the system.
So why have you never heard of her
She was the first woman to really challenge the law- and push hard against the legality of the system.
So why have you never heard of her
This part is where - I get unfollowed in mass.
This part is where- I get accused of playing respectability politics.
The Civil Rights leaders knew a 15-year-old rabble-rouser had no respectability and picked a more visually acceptable Rosa Parks to
This part is where- I get accused of playing respectability politics.
The Civil Rights leaders knew a 15-year-old rabble-rouser had no respectability and picked a more visually acceptable Rosa Parks to
@SilentAmuse @QueenMab87
In the 9 months Claudette Colvin was arrested and then Rosa Parks.
They spent months organizing for the success of the moment, raising money, challenging the law- and doing low key boycotts.
In the 9 months Claudette Colvin was arrested and then Rosa Parks.
They spent months organizing for the success of the moment, raising money, challenging the law- and doing low key boycotts.
The community was outraged. Some people stayed off the buses. But Colvin was young and seen as “feisty” and “uncontrollable” by many adults and lived on the wrong side of town. Ultimately, civil rights leaders deemed her not the right kind of plaintiff to organize around.-B
According to Colvin, Mrs. Parks was the only adult leader who kept up with her that summer. Colvin had been a member of the NAACP Youth Council before the arrest. Parks made Colvin secretary of the council, trying to nurture Claudette
Rose's arrest.
At the third stop on Parks’ journey home, the bus filled up and one white man was left standing. The bus driver, James Blake, noticed and asked Parks and other black passengers in the middle section to move.
At the third stop on Parks’ journey home, the bus filled up and one white man was left standing. The bus driver, James Blake, noticed and asked Parks and other black passengers in the middle section to move.
By the terms of Alabama segregation, all four Black people in the row Parks was seated in would have to get up so one man could sit down. Montgomery bus drivers carried guns.
“You all better make it light on yourselves and give me those seats”
“You all better make it light on yourselves and give me those seats”
The other three people, according to Parks, got up.
Parks reflected that giving up that seat “wasn’t making it light on ourselves as a people.” “I felt that if I did stand up, it meant that I approved of the way I was being treated, and I did not approve.”
Parks reflected that giving up that seat “wasn’t making it light on ourselves as a people.” “I felt that if I did stand up, it meant that I approved of the way I was being treated, and I did not approve.”
There is a lot of conversation about if this was planned.
A lot had been planned for an eventual boycott. They had organized systems to get people around. Because w/o a successful financial impact would they be taken seriously.
They organized the legal strategy...
A lot had been planned for an eventual boycott. They had organized systems to get people around. Because w/o a successful financial impact would they be taken seriously.
They organized the legal strategy...
The early civil rights leaders thought about every 360 impacts of their next moves, around their genuine sentiments of pain.
They looked at legal, commercial, financial, and yes messaging. Because failure had a high price.
They looked at legal, commercial, financial, and yes messaging. Because failure had a high price.
Some of you are so flippant about failure.
Some of you don't see the human cost of not succeeding. You are not putting your body on the line, you not putting your freedom, your livelihood. The most you will pay for is a twitter burn.
Some of you don't see the human cost of not succeeding. You are not putting your body on the line, you not putting your freedom, your livelihood. The most you will pay for is a twitter burn.
Some of you really think Dr. Martin Luther King Jr ( the only person many of you know) did some things once. And then years later, America woke up less racist.
And the rest of the story --I guess is lost in the pages until you need it to talk down to black people.
And the rest of the story --I guess is lost in the pages until you need it to talk down to black people.
I grew up in a household with pictures of Dr. King on the walls. And his Mountaintop speech shook the glasses it was played so loud, every Sunday morning. And yet - I still graduated NYC private school system with barely an understanding of the man.
My education on the entire civil rights movement was even more laughable. And yet I confront this ignorance every day. To educate myself was to learn, there were no tools Civil Rights leaders of the day did not use.
They were fighting for life itself.
They were fighting for life itself.
To maintain the boycott, the Montgomery Improvement Association was born. The MIA created an elaborate carpool system, designating 40 pickup stations across town where people could go to get a ride. Police and local whites constantly harassed the carpool w/ tickets/violence.
We are in a moment in that history is being made and perverted in the same hour.
I feel the weight of their sacrifice every day and that makes my choices to honor and further their sacrifice by progressing past the gifts I receive and pass on something better.
I feel the weight of their sacrifice every day and that makes my choices to honor and further their sacrifice by progressing past the gifts I receive and pass on something better.
The Mountaintop Speech has a section:
And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!
Dr. King understand death was a cost. Rosa knew freedom was hers.
And I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land!
Dr. King understand death was a cost. Rosa knew freedom was hers.
I cannot see having a conversation with them and say- I don't agree with the wording around how we get progress. I cannot imagine introducing them to Twitter.
I cannot say- I was not prepared to fight a battle on several fronts- to people who frequently sustained water hoses.
I cannot say- I was not prepared to fight a battle on several fronts- to people who frequently sustained water hoses.
On November 13, 1956, the US Supreme Court affirmed the US District Court’s historic June decision finding Montgomery’s bus segregation unconstitutional. On December 20, 1956, Montgomery’s buses were desegregated.
Claudette was very much instrumental in getting us this win.
Claudette was very much instrumental in getting us this win.
Citations:
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
BY JEANNE THEOHARIS
Claudette Colvin
Twice Toward Justice
By: Phillip Hoose
Drunk History - Comedy Central (feat. Mariah Wilson & Lisa Bonet) -
The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks
BY JEANNE THEOHARIS
Claudette Colvin
Twice Toward Justice
By: Phillip Hoose
Drunk History - Comedy Central (feat. Mariah Wilson & Lisa Bonet) -
