User:Annhayes21/sandbox

Early Life
The daughter of Mary Jane Gadson and C. P. Austin, Claudette was born Claudette Austin. Her parents were not able to financially support Claudette, so she was adopted by Mary Anne and Q.P. Colvin, great aunt and uncle to Mary Jane Gadson.

Colvin was a member of the NAACP Youth Council, where she formed a close relationship with her overseer: Rosa Parks.

Bus Incident
Colvin did not receive the same attention as Parks for a number of reasons: she did not have ‘good hair’, she was not fair skinned, she was a teenager, she got pregnant. The leaders in the Civil Rights Movement tried to keep up appearances and make the ‘most appealing’ protesters the most seen. Recognition is due for the other people who participated in the movement. Black women are constantly oversexualized. When discussing the injustice of Colvin being forced to give up her seat, one cannot minimize the injustice of sexual harassment by those who are supposed to serve and protect. The police officers who took her to the station made inappropriate comments about her body and took turns guessing her bra size throughout the ride.

Aetonormativity contributed to the decision to make Rosa Parks the face of the movement.

The Montgomery bus boycott was able to unify the people of Montgomery, regardless of educational background or class.

Colvin was not the only woman of the Civil Rights Movement who was left out of the history books. In the south, male ministers made up the overwhelming majority of leaders. This was partially a product of the outward face the NAACP was trying to broadcast and partially a product of the women fearing losing their jobs which were often in the public school system.

Colvin's moment of activism was not solitary or random. In high school, she had high ambitions of political activity. She dreamed of becoming the president of the United States. Her political inclination was fueled in part by an incident with her schoolmate: Jeremiah Reeves. Reeves was found having sex with a white woman who claimed she was raped though Reeves claims their relations were consensual. He was executed for his alleged crimes.

Legacy
On May 20, 2018 Congressman Joe Crowley honored Colvin for her lifetime commitment to public service with a Congressional Certificate and an American flag.