Press Release: Claudette Colvin joins the Faith and Politics Institute John Robert Lewis Scholars & Fellows Program
Washington, DC—Claudette Colvin recently spoke to the Faith and Politics Institute John Robert Lewis Scholars and Fellows Program about her contributions to the civil rights movement.
At age 15, Ms. Colvin was arrested on March 2, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, for violating bus segregation ordinances -- nine months before Rosa Parks. Ms. Colvin was made a ward of the State and placed on indefinite probation. In December 2021, Ms. Colvin’s record was expunged by Judge Calvin Williams of Alabama’s 15th Judicial Circuit.
Ms. Colvin is one of the two survivors of the Browder v. Gayle United States Supreme Court Case. She is known for her significant role in desegregating buses in Montgomery, Alabama 1956. She is one of the four black female plaintiffs, including Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, and Mary Louise Smith, who filed a lawsuit against segregated bus seating in Montgomery, Alabama. Their attorney was Fred D. Gray. The case was successful, thus impacting public transportation throughout the United States, including trains, airplanes, and taxis.
The John Robert Lewis Scholars & Fellows Program is designed for undergraduate (Scholars) and graduate students (Fellows) to examine Lewis’s nonviolent philosophy from a historical perspective, define its principles and strategies, and identify their applicability to modern times and movements, current issues, and everyday life. The JRL Scholars & Fellows will become a nationwide network of emerging leaders inspired to create positive societal change from the revolutionary nonviolent perspective employed with success in the Civil Rights Movement.
Ms. Colvin shared, "sitting on the bus that day, I stood up for my constitutional rights. I hope that other young people will stand up for their rights."
The Faith & Politics Institute works to bridge the divides that arise in our thriving democracy and create productive paths forward. Its work is grounded in the philosophy of civil rights leader and Board Chair Emeritus Congressman John Lewis. Like Lewis, it believes that making lasting positive social change requires that “the means and ends are inseparable.