Claudette Colvin, civil rights champion arrested for not giving up bus seat in Alabama, dies at 86

“It is with profound sadness that the Claudette Colvin Foundation and family announce the passing of Claudette Colvin, a beloved mother, grandmother, and civil rights pioneer,” a statement from the family and foundation reads. “She leaves behind a legacy of courage that helped change the course of American history.”

In the statement, the family and foundation said that Colvin was “more than a historical figure.”

“She was the heart of our family, wise, resilient, and grounded in faith,” the statement reads. “We will remember her laughter, her sharp wit, and her unwavering belief in justice and human dignity.”

In 1955, at the age of 15, Colvin refused to give up her seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, nine months before Rosa Parks’ act of defiance.

She said she was with three classmates at the time, “sitting in the section that was allowed for colored people” when a White woman boarded and moved to the back of the bus, hoping to take a seat. At that time, as Colvin explained, a Black person and a White person could not sit in the same row.

“I refused because this wasn’t an elderly White lady. This was a young White lady,” Colvin told “CBS Mornings” in an exclusive interview in 2021.

The bus driver asked the school kids to move, and three did, but Colvin refused. After a few stops, an officer “manhandled” her to get her off of it, she said. 

Colvin was arrested and charged with disturbing the peace, breaking segregation law and assaulting a police officer. Two of the charges were dropped, but the charge for assaulting a police officer had stayed with her for more than 60 years. 

In 2021, Colvin successfully filed to have her record expunged, telling “CBS Mornings” she was no longer “a juvenile delinquent at 82.”

Colvin’s interview with “CBS Mornings” prompted national recognition, including a call from then-Vice President Kamala Harris, who said Colvin was a “role model.” 

Almost a year after being arrested, Colvin was one of four plaintiffs in the lawsuit that challenged Alabama’s bus segregation in the landmark Supreme Court case Browder v. Gayle. 

An upcoming movie based on Colvin’s life, titled “Spark,” is being directed by Anthony Mackie and stars Saniyya Sidney, but a specific release date hasn’t yet been announced.

Colvin later went to college, worked as a nurse’s aid for 30 years and raised two sons. She has five grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren. 

Colvin told “CBS Mornings” in 2021 that her cleared record was important because it sends a message to her grandchildren and great-grandchildren. 

“Because when they go out into the world, the struggle of being African American is still going on,” Colvin said. “So I want my grandchildren to know that their grandmother stood up for something when she realized that she was an American at a very early age, and she wanted equal rights, just as those other students and all of the other bus audience and all of the other people in Montgomery — that’s what I want my grandchildren to know.”