Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

By the end of 1955, the bus boycott was in full swing in Montgomery, and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. became famous across the country for his eloquent, impassioned speeches calling for nonviolent protest. The Black community had nearly abandoned the bus system, largely due to a grassroots transportation network organized by the Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA). The MIA organizers plotted out a series of stops around the city with the help of Black mail carriers, who knew the most efficient routes. A Black parking lot owner allowed them to use the lot as a central transportation hub, and hundreds of citizens volunteered their personal vehicles to be used as makeshift “buses.” The system was free, funded by donations solicited at “mass meetings,” the large public gatherings that formed the backbone of activism in Montgomery.

The system worked well, but many people ended up walking everywhere they needed to go. This became a symbol of resistance for many, with even the elderly and people with disabilities walking to show that they were part of the boycott. The MIA allowed many people who were concerned about the way the boycott would affect their lives to begin supporting the protest, and throughout 1956, the buses remained devoid of Black passengers. This had a dramatic effect on bus companies, who began to lay off drivers and cancel bus routes after just a month of protest.

Claudette and her family bought a used Plymouth so her mother could get to work and help neighbors who needed a ride (as she was not an official part of the MIA). Since her mother was often out of the house driving, Claudette took over many of the household chores and shopping. The family also bought a TV so they could keep up with the latest news about the protests. Claudette started attending mass meetings far from home, so people would not recognize her and discover she was pregnant. Although she went regularly, she always hid in the back, knowing that the leaders would not ask a pregnant, unmarried teenager to speak.

As the bus boycott began to affect bus companies’ profits, the activists were met with more and more pushback from white people. At the behest of the mayor, police began stopping Black drivers for minor infractions to interrogate them, including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who spent a night in jail in late January for a minor speeding violation. Both Dr. King and E. D. Nixon had explosives thrown at their houses. Jo Ann Robinson was targeted twice by police officers, first with a rock thrown through her window and then with acid poured on her car, which caused extensive damage.

While the boycotters began to worry about their movement’s future in the face of increasing violence, Fred Gray embarked on the “second front” of the boycott. He hoped to have bus segregation ruled unconstitutional, which would require a hearing in federal court, as the Alabama judicial system would inevitably rule against any case that might end Jim Crow laws. After a meeting with the NAACP in New York, Gray succeeded in securing a place before a panel of three federal judges to put forth a constitutional challenge to Alabama bus laws.

Claudette was seven months pregnant when Fred Gray called her house, asking her to testify in his case. After a meeting with her parents and Gray, Claudette agreed. She was justifiably afraid, knowing that having her name attached to a blatant challenge of Jim Crow laws was incredibly dangerous. However, she did not want to live a life of fear, and she wanted both white and Black people to know that she would not accept segregation. Claudette’s family and Revered Johnson supported her decision, despite knowing the potential harm that could come to them. Many of her neighbors began to shy away from her, fearful of backlash from the newly formed White Citizens Councils, who vowed to make any Black person associated with the movement lose their job.

Six weeks before the lawsuit hearing began, Claudette gave birth to her son Raymond. He had blonde hair and blue eyes, which made the hospital employees question the father’s race. Claudette continued to withhold any information about him. In the days before the trial, she sat awake with the infant, planning out what she would say to the panel of judges. She envisioned herself in the Colosseum, about to give her final plea to the Roman Senate before being thrown to the lions.