You know the story of Rosa Parks. But have you heard of Claudette Colvin?
Claudette grew up in the segregated city of Montgomery, Alabama. On March 2, 1955, when she was 15 years old, she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white passenger.
Nine months later, Rosa Parks did the exact same thing. Parks, of course, became a powerful symbol of the civil rights movement. But Claudette Colvin has largely been left out of the history books.
In 1956, about a year after Colvin refused to give up her seat, her attorney Fred Gray filed the landmark federal lawsuit Browder v. Gayle. This case ended segregation on public transportation in Alabama. Claudette Colvin was a star witness.
This is her story.
The Longest Game
Rumble Strip: Finn and the Bell
The Almost Astronaut
The General Slocum
The End of Smallpox
The Story of Jane
The Greatest Songwriter You've Never Heard Of
Identical Strangers
Sofia's Choice: A Ukrainian Diary
The Forgotten Story of Clinton Melton
Claudette Colvin: Making Trouble Then and Now
A Voicemail Valentine
Diary of a Saudi Girl: Then & Now
A Museum of Sound
A Real Life West Side Story
A Guitar, A Cello, and the Day that Changed Music
A Wrench in the Works
My Iron Lung
When Borders Move
The Two Lives of Asa Carter
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Criminal
Ear Hustle
Song Exploder
The Truth
the memory palace