LEGISLATIVE RESOLUTION honoring Claudette Colvin upon the occasion of
her designation as the recipient of the 2009 African American Heritage
Award on February 27, 2009

WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body to acknowledge and
celebrate individuals and events of historic significance which add
vitality, sensitivity, understanding and inspiration to the diversity
and values of the people of this great Empire State; and
WHEREAS, Attendant to such concern, and in full accord with its long-
standing traditions, this Legislative Body is justly proud to honor
Claudette Colvin upon the occasion of her designation as a recipient of
the 2009 African American Heritage Award at a ceremony to be held on
Friday, February 27, 2009, at The Bronx Library Center; and
WHEREAS, Born on September 5, 1939, Claudette Colvin, who some histo-
rians say is the "Mother of the modern Civil Rights Movement", is an
African-American woman from Alabama; and
WHEREAS, In 1955, Claudette Colvin was a student at Booker T. Washing-
ton High School in Montgomery, Alabama; her family owned a car, but she
relied on the city's gold-and-green buses to get to school; on March 2,
1955, she was coming home from school when she got on a Capital Heights
bus downtown at the same place Rosa Parks boarded another bus months
later; and
WHEREAS, Claudette Colvin was sitting about two seats from the emer-
gency exit when four other passengers boarded the bus; the bus driver
ordered her along with three other black passengers to get up; she
refused and was removed from the bus by two police officers; and
WHEREAS, Claudette Colvin was handcuffed, arrested and forcibly
removed from the bus; she screamed that her constitutional rights were
being violated; at the time, Colvin was active in the NAACP's Youth
Council, and was actually being advised by Rosa Parks; and
WHEREAS, When she refused to get up, she was still thinking about a
school paper that she wrote that day; it was about the prohibition for
black people to try on white clothes in department stores; and
WHEREAS, Nearly a year later, on February 1, 1956, Claudette Colvin
was one of four black women who served as plaintiffs in a federal court
suit, known as Browder v. Gayle, which became the legal vehicle when the
United States Supreme Court declared bus segregation unconstitutional in
December 1956; the Parks arrest case, while sparking the boycott, was a
state case; and
WHEREAS, In 1956, Colvin gave birth to a son Raymond; she left Alabama
for New York in 1958, and for over 30 years worked the night shift at a
Catholic nursing home; she retired in 2004, after 35 years of working as
a nurse's assistant in the nursing home; and
WHEREAS, Claudette Colvin recently returned to her alma mater, now
named the Booker T. Washington Magnet School; while there she shared her
story with students and watched Awele Makeba perform "Rage is Not a
1-Day Thing", a one-woman show that honored her and other civil rights
figures; the event took place less than one month before the 50th anni-
versary of her arrest; and
WHEREAS, New York State is home to countless women, strong and color-
ful threads vital to the fabric of our rich heritage, who have and
continue to contribute to the advancement of our society; and
WHEREAS, Claudette Colvin's name may not be one that comes to mind
when one thinks of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, but her extraordinary act
of courage and determination should not go unnoticed; and

WHEREAS, Rare indeed is the occurrence of such a compassionate blend-
ing of strength, intellect, and commitment, as that demonstrated by
Claudette Colvin on that fateful day in December of 1955; and
WHEREAS, It is the sense of this Legislative Body that when individ-
uals of such noble aims and accomplishments are brought to our atten-
tion, it is appropriate to publicly proclaim and commend those individ-
uals for the edification and emulation of others; now, therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That this Legislative Body pause in its deliberations to
honor Claudette Colvin upon the occasion of her designation as the
recipient of the 2009 African American Heritage Award; and be it further
RESOLVED, That a copy of this Resolution, suitably engrossed, be tran-
smitted to Claudette Colvin.