Colored

Colored: The unsung life of Claudette Colvin by Emilie Plateau, 136 pgs.

This is the story of Claudette Colvin who predated Rosa Parks by several months refusing to move from her seat on the bus. The NAACP and the WCA did get her our of jail and she was interested in pursuing a lawsuit but the "movement" thought she was not a strong representative for the cause. Instead, she was pretty much abandoned although called to testify later during he lawsuit that went to the supreme court. She was very young, 15, and ended up pregnant out of wedlock so found herself forgotten as a figure in the civil rights movement. I too, had not heard her name. After the lawsuit, she could not find work and ended up being part of the great migration, moving north and living out her life in anonymity.