Anti-Segregation Pioneers

In the summer of 1854 Elizabeth Jennings challenged the segregation laws in New York City. She was a teacher and a religious person. On  July 16th, on her way to a church she was asked to board a different street car because of the segregation laws. She refused to leave the all white car and had to be physically removed from a car. She was injured when she resisted arrest.  Her arrest led to a successful civil suit against the City of New York.  

Claudette Colvin, is another unsung hero.  She refused to give up her seat on the bus a few months before Rosa Parks.  She was one of 5 people who challenged segregation laws in 1955. Read the article and listen to Claudette Colvin in a recently published article on CNN called Black women's roles in the civil rights movement have been understated -- but that's changing.