Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice

Claudette Colvin’s story is unique, but her experience as a woman in the civil rights movement is not exclusive to her. Compared to male leaders, many women had a difficult time becoming major players in activist communities across the country. They faced the dual threat of racism and sexism, the latter of which often came from men in their own circles. Although women played important roles in the movement, their achievements were often overshadowed by men. This was partly due to the centering of charismatic pastors like Martin Luther King, Jr., who were trained in the art of giving impassioned, persuasive speeches. At the time, the job of reverend was reserved exclusively for men. To this day, male civil rights leaders remain far more recognized than their female counterparts, with Rosa Parks as one of the only exceptions.

Events in Montgomery in 1955-1956 emboldened many Black women from other parts of the South to fight for larger roles. With Rosa Parks as the primary spokeswoman and the all-female witness team during the Browder v. Gayle trial, this period marked one of the first times that women were given a central, public role in equal rights activism. Many women continued to struggle to make their voices heard in the same way as men, and also faced discrimination and sexual harassment within activist groups. Women also paid a greater price than men for their involvement in activism. Like Claudette, many activist women were branded as rebels, and their activism was seen as a major departure from social norms for women in the 1950s, as women were expected to be quiet, respectful, and primarily concerned with attracting a good husband.

As the civil rights movement grew and expanded beyond the South, many Black women shifted their attention from the direct fight for racial justice and aligned themselves more closely with the feminist movement. In many cases, both historical and modern, Black women have been at the forefront of intersectional movements that aim to address both racial and gender prejudices. For example, Dorothy I. Height (1912-2010) was a talented orator who was denied admittance to Barnard College due to the school “filling” its quota for Black female students (“Women in the Civil Rights Movement Historic Context Statement and AACRN Listing Guidance (African American Civil Rights Network).” National Park Service, 6 August 2021). Height went on to receive a college education elsewhere, became president of the National Council for Negro Women (NCNW), and helped organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in August 1963. Septima Poinsette Clark (1898-1987) was the daughter of a formerly enslaved man, and upon joining the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), fought for both Black teachers’ right to teach at Charleston public schools and the integration of public schools; later on, she and fellow teacher Bernice Robinson organized sociocultural lessons for Black American adults within the community (“Women in the Civil Rights Movement”). Ella Josephine Baker (1903-1986) was a passionate journalist who cofounded the Young Negroes Cooperative League (YNCL), and later served several other organizations as a particularly influential member of the civil rights movement (“Women in the Civil Rights Movement”). Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) cofounded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), many of whom attended the Democratic National Convention in 1964 to protest their representation and voting rights (“Women in the Civil Rights Movement”).