13. The original bus seat protest
Wikimedia Commons
Rosa Parks wasn’t the first woman of color to refuse to move for a white passenger. That title belongs to Claudette Colvin, the teenage civil rights activist responsible for this extraordinary moment in history. In March of 1955, a 15 year old girl refused to move from her bus seat to accommodate a white passenger. She was arrested and pled not guilty to violating Alabama segregation laws. Because of her age, she wasn’t credited for her stand against segregation on that bus, instead the credit is often given to Rosa Parks. She did refuse to move for a white passenger on a bus, but she would do so a full 9 months after Claudette.
