When discussing the civil rights movement and the fight against segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, Rosa Parks is often the name that comes to mind.
However, nine months before Parks refused to give up her bus seat, a 15-year-old named Claudette Colvin made a similar, courageous stand—one that deserves its place in history.
In March 1955, Claudette Colvin was riding a segregated bus in Montgomery when the driver ordered her to vacate her seat for a white passenger. Fueled by a sense of justice and inspiration from historical icons like Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth, Colvin resisted…