Claudette Colvin was only 15 in 1955 when she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on an Alabama bus. Her defiance landed her in jail. “‘Other African-Americans had previously refused to give their seats to white passengers,’ says Phillip Hoose [the author of Claudette Colvin, Twice Towards Justice]. ‘What was without precedent, though, is Colvin wanted to get a lawyer and she wanted to fight,’ he says.”
Read more and listen to her fascinating story on NPR’s “All Things Considered.” You’ll learn why Rosa Parks was selected nine months later to represent the black community in this battle for civil rights.
