[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 30 (Thursday, February 25, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E217]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       HONORING CLAUDETTE COLVIN

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. JOSE E. SERRANO

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 25, 2016

  Mr. SERRANO. Mr. Speaker, this month we take time to commemorate the 
innumerable contributions that African Americans have--and continue to 
make--to our Nation. Today, I would like to rise and honor a resident 
of my district who is a pioneer and trailblazer for the Civil Rights 
Movement--Ms. Claudette Colvin--for her many years of advocacy and 
impact that she's had throughout the United States.
  Ms. Colvin was born on September 5, 1939 in Birmingham, Alabama to 
C.P. Austin and Mary Jane Austin (Gadson). She is the oldest of eight 
sisters. During her early childhood her adopted parents, Q.P. and Mary 
Ann Colvin lived in the rural community of Pine Level, Alabama. Ms. 
Colvin attended the Springhill Baptist Elementary School but later she 
moved to Montgomery and lived in an area called King Hill. She attended 
Booker T. Washington School from 1949 to 1956. While she didn't finish 
her senior year, she later received her G.E.D. and attended the Alabama 
State Teachers College in Montgomery for one year.
  Ms. Colvin is one of the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement. 
At the age of fifteen, she played a critical role in desegregating the 
buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Many people don't know that nine months 
before Rosa Parks was arrested for her act of courage in favor of equal 
treatment, Ms. Colvin was arrested on March 2, 1955 for a similar act 
of peaceful resistance. She subsequently became one of the four 
plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle. The plaintiffs sought equal rights in 
Montgomery's busing system, and to have the racially segregated seating 
policies declared unconstitutional. Represented by famed attorney Fred 
D. Gray, the case went all the way to the Supreme Court, which declared 
in favor of Ms. Colvin and her co-plaintiffs. It was a jubilant day in 
the history of the city of Montgomery, and an important victory in the 
Civil Rights Movement.
  Many people don't know that Ms. Colvin subsequently relocated to my 
district in the Bronx, and has been a New Yorker for more than 50 
years. She worked for more than 30 years at a Catholic Nursing Home as 
a nursing assistant. She is the mother of two boys, and she has six 
adorable grandchildren. She has reaped the fruits of her labor through 
them.
  Ms. Colvin's bravery that day in 1955, and in the subsequent months 
and years as the case moved through the federal court system, has not 
gone unnoticed. Ms. Colvin's name started surfacing during Black 
History Month as early as 1979. The Birmingham News did a feature story 
in 1980. New York Governor Mario M. Cuomo awarded her with the MLK, Jr. 
Medal of Freedom in 1990. The Selma Times Journal featured her in 1991, 
The National Voting Rights Museum and Institute added a picture display 
of Ms. Colvin in 1994. She was featured in the cover story of USA Today 
Newspaper on November 25, 1995, the Montgomery Advertiser in 1996 and 
the Washington Post on April 12, 1990. She has been mentioned in 
several books such as ``Freedom's Children'' by Ellen Levine, ``Parting 
the Waters'' by Taylor Bunch, ``Bus Ride to Justice'' by Fred D. Gray, 
``The Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Women Who Started It'', and the 
memoirs of JoAnn Gibson Robinson, to name a few.
  I am proud to add to that recognition today. Ms. Colvin has been a 
pillar of the Bronx for so long, and her story is one that all 
Bronxites, and Americans, should know.
  Mr. Speaker, I respectfully ask that you and my other distinguished 
colleagues join me in honoring Ms. Claudette Colvin, a civil rights 
pioneer, for her legacy and devotion to fighting against injustice.

                          ____________________