ESP – ENG
The struggle for civil rights in the United States has many prominent figures, heroes and heroines of all ages who defeated racial segregation, a system inherited from slavery. However, Claudette Colvin’s story is one of the least told despite its importance.
Born in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1939, Colvin became a symbol of resistance when, at just 15 years old, she refused to give up her seat on a bus to a white person. It was March 2, 1955. This act of defiance occurred nine months before Rosa Parks’ similar act, which would trigger a boycott in Montgomery.
After refusing to stand up, young Colvin was taken to jail, where she was treated cruelly for opposing a racist and oppressive system. Her bravery reignited the struggle for racial justice and paved the way for more acts of defiance, such as that of Rosa Parks and many others.
Despite being an inspiration and catalyst for the civil rights movement, Colvin remained in the shadows for a long time due to a combination of the circumstances of the time, including the biases against being a single mother at such a young age, which led some leaders to highlight more conventional stories.
Nonetheless, Colvin’s impact is impossible to overlook. Her case exposed the injustice of segregation and she was one of the first plaintiffs in the case that led to the end of this apartheid system on Montgomery buses.
Claudette Colvin is a reminder that any movement for change is only victorious due to the plurality of voices that compose it, which, although often ignored, are fundamental in the pursuit of equality and justice.
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Text: Andreína Chávez. Illustration: Valentina Aguirre.