Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice
One of the pleasures of Women鈥檚 History Month is meeting women whom you never knew had made history. Joining the ranks of female crusaders this year is Claudette Colvin, a figure who proved that women 鈥� or rather, girls 鈥� have what it takes to make a difference.
Phillip Hoose tells her story in a new book for tweens Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice.
If you haven鈥檛 heard of Colvin, you鈥檙e hardly alone. A newspaper article referencing her role in the civil rights movement got her last name wrong 鈥� and this just nine months after she spurred Montgomery, Ala., to rebellion.
But I鈥檓 getting ahead of myself.
Hoose begins by placing Colvin鈥檚 life in the context of Jim Crow laws: Colvin grew up in 1940s and 鈥�50s Alabama where racial prejudice ran deep. Before she even knew her ABCs, she knew the societal differences between being black or white.
But Colvin wasn鈥檛 content to rail against social injustices in private. Her moment came on March 2, 1955, when she was a mere 15 years old. Frustrated with the segregation laws that ruled the Montgomery bus system, Colvin refused to give up her seat to a white woman. Colvin was arrested; the city was electrified.
Although Hoose鈥檚 book primarily focuses on Colvin鈥檚 story 鈥� from her bus protest in 1955 to her role in the landmark court case that brought an end to segregated busing on Dec. 21, 1956 鈥� there鈥檚 also plenty of general civil rights history for context and enrichment. Readers are introduced to a young, fiery orator by the name of Martin Luther King Jr. And they meet a well-respected seamstress and head of the Montgomery NAACP. Her name? Rosa Parks.
What鈥檚 most interesting of all about Hoose鈥檚 book is his explanation of why it was Parks, and not the teenage Colvin, who became the heroine of the Alabama bus boycott. And yet, Hoose also shows how Colvin鈥檚 stand for justice built the foundation for Parks鈥檚 later act.
True, it鈥檚 a story that may have been taken for granted in 1950s Alabama. But today, thanks to Hoose, a new generation of girls 鈥� and boys 鈥� can add Claudette Colvin to their list of heroines.
Jenny Sawyer regularly reviews children鈥檚 books for the Monitor.
