Claudette Colvin last month (L) and in 1953
A National Book Award awarded last month for a young adult book has given its subject, a retired nursing assistant, a taste of long-overdue fame for a brave act in her youth.
Claudette Colvin, a civil rights pioneer who refused to give up her seat to a white woman in Montgomery months before Rosa Parks walked into history books by doing the same, recently retired after 35 years as a nursing assistant in a New York City nursing home.
The civil rights leaders planning to fight segregation laws in court decided not to use Colvin’s arrest as their test case, the author of the book told the New York Times. “They worried they couldn’t win with her. Words like ‘mouthy,’ ‘emotional’ and ‘feisty’ were used to describe her.”
In the Times article, Colvin said even her own mother told her it was best to cede the spotlight to Parks. “My mother told me to be quiet about what I did,” she recalled. “She told me: ‘Let Rosa be the one. White people aren’t going to bother Rosa — her skin is lighter than yours and they like her.’ ”
Elise Nakhnikian
Communications Director
Direct Care Alliance
I found Claudette Colvin’s story while doing research for StudySync.com. I was delighted to discover what had happened to her in this article.
I love the idea of gutsy women working in nursing. I know they will take excellent care of their patients.
I hope Ms. Colvin is enjoying her retirement and her place in American history.
B. Lynn Goodwin
http://www.writeradvice.com
Author of You Want Me to Do WHAT? Journaling for Caregivers