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Civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin dies aged 86
Claudette Colvin, whose refusal to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger in 1955 helped dismantle racial segregation in the United States, has died, the Claudette Colvin Legacy Foundation announced. She was 86.
The protest that preceded Rosa Parks
At 15, Colvin was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for defying the city's bus segregation laws-nine months before Rosa Parks' similar act of resistance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. While Parks became an iconic figure in the civil rights movement, Colvin's arrest remained largely unrecognized for decades.
A legal turning point
Colvin's case became a cornerstone of the legal battle against segregation. In 1956, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Browder v. Gayle that bus segregation was unconstitutional, with Colvin as one of four plaintiffs whose testimony shaped the decision.
In a 2018 BBC interview, she recalled her defiance: "I was not frightened, but disappointed and angry. I knew I was sitting in the right seat."
Inspired by abolitionist heroes
Colvin credited Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth as her inspiration. "Whenever people ask me why I didn't get up when the bus driver asked, I say it felt as though Harriet Tubman's hands were pushing me down on one shoulder and Sojourner Truth's on the other," she told the BBC.
Life after the struggle
After moving to New York, Colvin worked as a nurse. Her legacy, however, remained tied to her teenage act of courage. The Claudette Colvin Legacy Foundation called her "a legacy of courage that helped change the course of American history."
She passed away in Texas, according to the foundation's statement.
A delayed recognition
Colvin's story gained wider attention only in 2009 with the publication of the first detailed account of her protest. While Parks' arrest catalyzed the Montgomery Bus Boycott, Colvin's earlier defiance laid critical groundwork for the legal victory that followed.
