Claudette Colvin Martin Luther King Jr. And Rosa Parks

When many people think of the Civil Rights Movement and its leaders, the first names that comes to mind are Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. However, there were so many people that were just as influential and deserving of recognition as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. One of these people, Claudette Colvin, was â€Å"Rosa Parks before Rosa Parks†. Claudette Colvin grew up in King Hill, Alabama- a close-knit community that was stuck between two white neighborhoods. She attended a one-room school, with one teacher teaching all six elementary grades. When she refused to give up her seat to a white woman on a Montgomery bus, she was only fifteen years old. Claudette was arrested, and seen as an outsider by her classmates. She suffered†¦show more content†¦Clearly, Claudette was an extremely courageous person. As well as being courageous, Claudette was also an upstander. â€Å"She went to rallies, wrote letters to him in prison, and collected money for his legal defense† (Hoose, 24). Jeremiah Reeves was a student that attended Claudette’s high school, and her neighbor. He was sixteen when he was convicted of raping a white housewife, and then later convicted of raping six white women after breaking into their homes. Jeremiah’s death sentence made Claudette realize the injustices blacks faced everywhere. She, among other students, became involved in helping him and fighting for his freedom. This shows how Claudette was an upstander, because she took a stand helped out an individual, and a group of people as a whole, when they were faced with injustice. â€Å"I wasn’t going to go to Alabama State College, where they teach school but didn’t teach you how to get your freedom† (Hoose, 28). Going to college is a huge opportunity, but she is devoted to ge tting freedom, not to learning maths or English in a classroom. Claudette has truly taken a stand, whether it is for herself, like on the bus, or for a classmate in need of justice. Although Claudette is not nearly as well-known as Martin Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks, her influence was just as great. â€Å"With that, the bus protest ignited by Claudette’s arrest twenty-one months earlier came to an end† (Hoose, 109). Claudette’s act of refusing her seat to a white woman sparkedShow MoreRelatedWhat Is Rosa Parks Essay992 Words   |  4 PagesRosa Parks once said, â€Å"Each person must live their life as a model for others.† On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was a model for everyone. She is an important figure in American History, she showed everyone that she cares that the world is like this and that she would not be afraid to stand up for her rights. 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