We’ve all heard of Rosa Parks, the civil rights activist who refused to give up her seat on a bus to a White passenger in December 1955. That event sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott, an important milestone in the civil rights movement. Rosa Parks and her fellow activists helped make public transit accessible to all people. The safety of all people to move freely is a vital part of TransForm and the Safe Routes to Schools program, and equal rights advocates laid the necessary groundwork for the work we do today.

But what most people don’t know is that Rosa Parks wasn’t the first Black woman to stay seated as a protest against racist policies that segregated public transportation. In March of 1955, Claudette Colvin, aged 15, was taking the bus home from high school when the driver asked her to give up her seat for a White passenger. Colvin refused and was arrested.

Like Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin’s refusal to move to the back of the bus was a political statement. She was a member of the NAACP Youth Council who decided to stand up for her rights.

Several students from her high school were on the bus with Colvin and supported her. The civil rights movement rallied to help her, and Rosa Parks raised money for her defense.

Civil rights leaders chose Rosa Parks as the icon for the movement to desegregate public transportation, but Claudette Colvin, a strong young Black woman who found her voice, paved the way.