Claudette Colvin (born 1940) is a black woman from Alabama. In 1955, at the age of 15, she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white person, in violation of local law. Her arrest preceded civil rights activist Rosa Parks' (on December 1, 1955) by nine months. 1940 (MCMXL) was a leap year starting on Monday (link will take you to calendar). ... An African-American (also Afro-American, Black American, or black), is a member of an ethnic group in the United States whose ancestors, usually in predominant part, were indigenous to Africa. ... Image of a woman on the Pioneer plaque sent to outer space. ... State nickname: Camellia State, The Heart of Dixie¹, Yellowhammer State Official languages English Capital Montgomery Largest city Birmingham Governor Bob Riley (R) Senators Richard Shelby (R) Jeff Sessions (R) Area  - Total  - % water Ranked 30th 52,423 mi²/135,775 km² 3. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Montgomery is the capital of the U.S. state of Alabama. ... TheBus, established by Mayor Frank Fasi, is Honolulus only public transit system. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ... Law (a loanword from Old Norse lagu), in politics and jurisprudence, is a set of rules or norms of conduct which mandate, proscribe or permit specified relationships among people and organizations, intended to provide methods for ensuring the impartial treatment of such people, and provide punishments of/for those who... The Chicago Police Department arrests a man A protester is arrested during a demonstration. ... Civil rights or positive rights are those legal rights retained by citizens and protected by the government. ... Activism, in a general sense, can be described as involvement in action to bring about change, be it social, political, environmental, or other change. ... Rosa Louise McCauley Parks (February 4, 1913 – October 24, 2005) was an African American civil rights activist and seamstress whom the U.S. Congress dubbed the mother of the modern-day Civil Rights Movement. Parks is famous for her refusal on December 1, 1955 to obey a bus drivers... December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

At the time, Colvin was a student at Booker T. Washington High School. On March 2, 1955, she boarded a public bus and, shortly thereafter, refused to give up her seat to a white man. Colvin was handcuffed, arrested, and forcibly removed from the bus. She screamed that her constitutional rights were being violated. At the time Colvin was active in the NAACP's Youth Council, and she was actually being advised by Rosa Parks. March 2 is the 61st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (62nd in leap years). ... 1955 (MCMLV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

A number of black leaders, including Parks, raised money for Colvin's defense, which at the time was felt would be a good case to take to the Supreme Court as part of a broader effort to overturn segregation laws. Soon after her arrest, however, Colvin became pregnant by a much older, married man. Leaders felt that this moral transgression would not only scandalize the deeply religious black community but also make her suspect in the eyes of whites. In particular, they felt that the white press would manipulate Colvin's illegitimate pregnancy as a means of undermining any boycott. Colvin was also allegedly prone to outbursts and cursing. She was ultimately sentenced to probation, but a boycott and legal case never materialized from the event. The supreme court in some countries, provinces, and states, is the highest court in that jurisdiction and functions as a court of last resort whose rulings cannot be appealed. ...

Some historians have argued that civil rights leaders, who were predominately middle class, were uneasy with Colvin's lower class background. Indeed, before Colvin the NAACP had considered and rejected several protesters deemed unsuitable or unable to withstand the pressures of cross-examination during a legal challenge to racial segregation laws. The middle class (or middle classes) comprises a social group once defined by exception as an intermediate social class between the nobility and the peasantry. ... A social class is, at its most basic, a group of people that have similar social status. ...

On May 11, 1956, Colvin testified in a Montgomery federal court hearing about her actions on the bus (Browder v. Gayle). May 11 is the 131st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (132nd in leap years). ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In law and in religion, testimony is a solemn attestation as to the truth of a matter. ... The United States federal courts are the system of courts organized under the Constitution and laws of the federal government of the United States. ... In law, a hearing is a proceeding before a court or other decisionmaking body or officer. ... This article needs to be wikified. ...

See also

• Montgomery Bus Boycott
• Mary Louise Smith
• Irene Morgan

It has been suggested that Montgomery Improvement Association be merged into this article or section. ... Mary Louise Smith was a civil rights protester. ... Irene Morgan was an important precursor to Rosa Parks in the successful fight to overturn segregationist laws in the United States. ...

External links

• She Had A Dream

• Daybreak of Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Boycott (Preface)

• Daybreak of Freedom: The Montgomery Bus Boycott (Excerpt)

• BROWDER v. GAYLE: The Women Before Rosa Parks
• "In The Shadow Of Rosa Parks: 'Unsung Hero' Of Civil Rights Movement Speaks Out" by Vanessa de la Torre, The Cardinal Inquirer, January 20, 2005