Editing Claudette Colvin (section)

==Legacy==
Colvin was a predecessor to the Montgomery bus boycott movement of 1955, which gained national attention. But she rarely told her story after moving to New York City. The discussions in the Black community began to shift toward black entrepreneurship rather than focusing solely on integration, although national civil rights legislation did not pass until 1964 and 1965. [[NPR]]'s Margot Adler has said that black organizations believed that Rosa Parks would be a better figure for a test case for integration because she was an adult, had a job, and had a middle-class appearance. They felt she had the maturity to handle being at the center of potential controversy.<ref name=Adler>{{cite news| last= Adler| first= Margot| title= Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette |publisher=[[NPR]]| date= March 15, 2009| url= http://www.npr.org/2009/03/15/101719889/before-rosa-parks-there-was-claudette-colvin| access-date= November 24, 2013}}</ref> Colvin's age and pregnancy in 1956 would cause her case to be overshadowed, but still she remains a trailblazer.

Colvin was not the only woman of the Civil Rights Movement who was left out of the history books. In the south, male ministers made up the overwhelming majority of leaders. This was partially a product of the outward face the NAACP was trying to broadcast and partially a product of the women fearing losing their jobs, which were often in the public school system.<ref>{{cite journal| last= Garrow| first= David J. |title= In Honor of Fred Gray: The Meaning of Montgomery| journal= [[Case Western Reserve Law Review]]| publisher= [[Case Western Reserve University]] |volume= 67| number= 4| year= 2017| pages= 1045–1053}}</ref>

In 2005, Colvin told the ''[[Montgomery Advertiser]]'' that she would not have changed her decision to remain seated on the bus: "I feel very, very proud of what I did," she said. "I do feel like what I did was a spark and it caught on."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Colvin helped light flame of civil rights |first= Sebastian |last= Kitchen | work=[[Montgomery Advertiser]]|<!--A;-->page=1|date=February 4, 2005}}</ref> "I'm not disappointed. Let the people know Rosa Parks was the right person for the [[Montgomery bus boycott|boycott]]. But also let them know that the attorneys took four other women to the Supreme Court to challenge the law that led to the end of segregation."<ref name= "Chicago1">{{cite news|title=2 other bus boycott heroes praise Parks' acclaim |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2005/11/16/2-other-bus-boycott-heroes-praise-parks-acclaim/ |first=Cassandra|last=Spratling|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|<!--WOMAN NEWS ; ZONE C;-->page=2|date=November 16, 2005}}</ref>

In an interview in 1998 with Paul Hendrickson, Colvin reflected back on her protest and why she did what she did. She stated, "I was done talking about “good hair” and “good skin” but not addressing our grievances. I was tired of adults complaining about how badly they were treated and not doing anything about it. I’d had enough of just feeling angry about [[Jeremiah Reeves]] [a classmate who had been sentenced to death in 1953 on specious charges that he had sexually assaulted white women]. I was tired of hoping for justice. When the moment came I was ready." This statement reflected on how African Americans were feeling in the years leading up to the civil rights movement in Montgomery, Alabama. It shows the growing frustration held and the want for change. Colvin's determination to stand up for herself paved the way for others to do the same.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Seniors |first=Paula Marie |date=September 2022 |title=Claudette Colvin, Mary Louise Smith: Excavating Black Girls' History |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/article/865971 |journal=Black History Bulletin |language=en |volume=85 |issue=2 |pages=13–15 |doi=10.1353/bhb.2022.0018 |issn=2153-4810|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

On May 20, 2018, Congressman [[Joe Crowley]] honored Colvin for her lifetime commitment to public service with a Congressional Certificate and an American flag.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Chairman Crowley Honors Civil Rights Pioneer Claudette Colvin|url=https://www.qgazette.com/articles/chairman-crowley-honors-civil-rights-pioneer-claudette-colvin/|date=May 30, 2018|website=Queens Gazette|access-date=May 16, 2020}}</ref>