Civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin, who refused to give up bus seat, seeks to expunge record
Share
Explore Our Galleries
Breaking News!
Today's news and culture by Black and other reporters in the Black and mainstream media.
Ways to Support ABHM?
By Biba Adams, The grio
Colvin’s legal team told CNN it plans to file paperwork to have the now-82-year-old woman’s 1955 arrest record cleared.
Claudette Colvin, who was arrested at the age of 15 for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus to a white person, is now asking for her arrest record to be expunged…
Colvin was arrested in March 1955, and charged with two misdemeanor counts of violating the city’s segregation ordinance and one felony count of assaulting a police officer. CNN obtained a copy of the arrest record, which noted that “There were two colored females sitting opposite two white females, that refused to move to the back with the rest of the colored.”…
“I am an old woman now,” Colvin said in a sworn statement. “Having my records expunged will mean something to my grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And it will mean something for other Black children.”
Read the full article here.
Read about other people involved in the Civil Rights Movement in the I Am Somebody! The Struggle For Justice Gallery here.
More Breaking News here.
Comments Are Welcome
Note: We moderate submissions in order to create a space for meaningful dialogue, a space where museum visitors – adults and youth –– can exchange informed, thoughtful, and relevant comments that add value to our exhibits.
Racial slurs, personal attacks, obscenity, profanity, and SHOUTING do not meet the above standard. Such comments are posted in the exhibit Hateful Speech. Commercial promotions, impersonations, and incoherent comments likewise fail to meet our goals, so will not be posted. Submissions longer than 120 words will be shortened.
See our full Comments Policy here.