Peaceful journeys, deep respect and gratitude to civil rights trailblazer / #activist #ClaudetteColvin, who transitioned yesterday, January 13, 2026 at age 86. She helped to spark the modern civil rights movement in the U.S. after refusing to give up her seat to a white woman on a segregated bus in 1955. Colvin was 15 when she was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks' was also jailed for the same act of resistance, which ignitined the Montgomery Bus Boycott.
Thank you also to @monique.bingham for honoring her with this song!
🖼✍️🏾 reposted from @justice4blackgirls Today, we honor the life & legacy of Claudette Colvin.💐At 15, her resistance & refusal to give up her seat on the way home from school shaped the trajectory of the Black freedom movement. As a teenager, she knew what it meant to feel the power and audacity of her ancestors, she recalls feeling Harriet Tubman pushing down one shoulder and Sojourner Truth pushing down the other. Beyond her resistance, she loved Black history and had dreams of becoming a civil rights attorney.
Even as a teenager, Claudette was aware of the systems of power that ultimately erased her story. As a dark-skinned Black child (who later became pregnant) she recognized that the movement would center someone “more impressive to White folks”
Through her award-winning book and retelling, she describes her experience- sent to an adult prison as a child, and being a key plaintiff in Browder v. Gayle, ultimately ruling bus segregation unconstitutional.
Black girls have always shaped our freedom movements, and continue to do so. We honor Black girls’ resistance while remembering we are so much more than what we’ve had to endure.❤️
