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Did you know that Rosa Parks was not the first woman to refuse to give up her seat to a white passenger? This link is the biography of Claudette Colvin who at the age of fifteen (That's right, 15) refused to give up her seat for a white passenger in Montgomery Alabama. The reason her arrest was not used by National Association for the Advancement of Colored People was because of her age and the fact that she got pregnant around the same time she got arrested. Claudette's incident happened nine months before the better known Rosa Parks incident.

Months prior to Parks arrest for civil disobedience, four other women had been arrested for refusing to give up their seat on a bus as well. One of the more well-known women of the group was 15 year old Claudette Colvin who like Parks was involved with the NAACP - Colvin was a mentee of Parks. Originally the boycott and civil action case was to be centered around Colvin until it was discovered that she was pregnant and had trouble keeping composed when upset. Parks arrest was chosen to launch a challenge against segregation laws due to her impeccable character and reputation. Colvin and the three other women, Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, and Mary Louise Smith re-emerged when they agreed to file a civil action on February 1, 1956. The outcome of this civil action was a panel of three judges agreed 'that Montgomery segregation codes "deny and deprive plaintiffs and other Negro citizens similarly situated of the equal protection of the laws and due process of law secured by the Fourteenth Amendment."'

This was an interesting article as well.  I did not know that there were people before Rosa Parks that refused to give up their seat for a Caucasian patron.  I think the media wants us to believe this as well.  Would the picture in this week's assignment be as important if other people like Claudette Colvin would have been given more publicity or coverage?  There probably are many other pictures like the one in this week's assignment, but American history really only uses this picture. As I mentioned in another link, the United States of America has a terrible problem of forgetting, and also being content with being ignorant to other cultures, experiences and lifestyles.

The US Supreme Court to the case of Rosa Park's, actually never got a chance to hear Mrs. Park's case. Rosa Park's was arrested on charges of misdemeanor disorderly conduct, and appeared before judge John B Scoot. Her lawyer Fred Gray, immediately filled an appeal, but then realized that her case would not be upheld in the Alabama court system for years. Although Mrs. Park's case did not make it to the Supreme Court, her experience on the Montgomery Bus, largely aided the African American community to organize the bus boycott.  Four attorney's decided on a strategy in dealing with the bus segregation issues. Fred Gray, Thurgood Marshall, Robert Carter and Charles Langford, with a plan of action approached three other women (Aurelia Browder, Claudette Colvin, Susie McDonald and Mary Louise Smith). These women had also experienced abuse form the Montgomery bus system.  The women became plaintiffs in a federal civil action law against the city and Mayor W.A. Gayle. Affirming the District Court ruling without issuing a written opinion, the US Supreme Court denied the cities petition. Racial segregation on buses within state boundaries became outlawed, the city of Montgomery received an official order to desegregate buses in 1956. Although the four attorneys, and including the other four women may have provided legal change, this write up point out how Mrs. Park's determination, dignity and courage catalyzed the national Civil Rights Movement.  Heidi Beckles