Claudette Colvin Day to Honor Civil Rights Icon - March 2

On Saturday, March 2, a celebration honoring Claudette Colvin, an icon of the American Civil Rights Movement, will occur at St. Helena’s. Several distinguished speakers and public officials will be in attendance as well as representatives from Interfaith communities, the United Nations, and African Union affiliations.

The event will be held from 11AM – 2PM. Following a networking session, ceremonies will begin promptly at 12PM. Ms. Colvin, who has lived in Parkchester since 1957, will be in attendance.

On March 2, 1955, the American Civil Rights Movement was accelerated through the singular act of a courageous 15-year old girl. Claudette Colvin was the first person to stand up for her Constitutional Rights and not give up her seat to a white person on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. This happened 9 months before Rosa Parks,
whose arrest on December 1, is widely taught in schools worldwide.
It was Claudette Colvin’s actions that changed the status quo, that grabbed the attention of the NAACP in Alabama, and that kickstarted the timeline that followed. Ms. Colvin is historically credited with “accelerating the change in the plight of colored people” and it was her lawsuit, Browder v. Gayle, that went up to the Supreme Court and changed the law. 
In 1957, unable to get a job and branded a troublemaker, Claudette. Colvin moved to Parkchester in the Bronx where she still lives today. In 2009, she retired from her career as a nurse’s aide and has recently limited her public appearances due to some health-related issues. In 2015, Mayor Bill de Blasio enacted an enduring Proclamation commemorating every March 2 as Claudette Colvin Day in the City of New York. Jose Rivera, Assemblyman from District 78 in the Bronx, has written a Resolution to henceforth make March 2nd Claudette Colvin Day in the State of New York.