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Claudette Colvin Visits Breakwater!
It's not every day you meet a real-life hero face to face. It's even more rare to be able to ask a hero a question and to have the opportunity to shake her hand.
This past Tuesday Breakwater students had such an opportunity, and for many the experience is one they will remember for a very long time.
Claudette Colvin, subject of a new book by local author Phil Hoose, was at our school this past Tuesday to talk with students about her role in both the Montgomery bus boycott and the Civil Rights movement. Breakwater's Middle School organized the visit and invited middle school students from the Friends School of Portland, high school students from a civil rights class at Kennebunk's New School, and Breakwater's Third-Fifth graders to attend this exceptional event.
Author Phil Hoose began by providing some historical context for Ms. Colvin's story, noting that most people have heard of Rosa Parks and her courageous act, but few know a 15 year old girl named Claudette had refused to give up her seat to a white passenger nine months before Mrs. Parks had done so. Ms. Colvin was one of the only African Americans arrested during this time who challenged her charges in court. Most paid a fine and were quickly released from jail. Not only did Ms. Colvin fight the arrest, she later helped end segregated busing entirely by being one of four plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against the city of Montgomery. This lawsuit went all the way to the Supreme Court (Browder v Gayle ) and resulted in the Court declaring segregated busing unconstitutional, hence the title of Hoose's book, Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice.
"We got to see somebody who changed the United States" said one student. "I didn't think a 15-year old could do all that," said another, "She inspired me to try new things, to make a change in something if I think it's wrong".
"I was proud that I was the spark." Ms. Colvin responded to one student's question, "I was an ordinary person, but I was tired of the adults talking about what was wrong and not doing anything about it. I got something started and look where we are today, with Barak Obama as our first African American president!"
History came vividly alive for us this past Tuesday at Breakwater.
Claudette Colvin gave our students a lasting gift by sharing her passion and courage and by insisting that she, like all of us, is an ordinary person
~ Cheryl Hart, Middle School Division Director
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