US civil rights pioneer dies aged 86

14 Jan 2026 • 11:03 PM MYT
The Independent
The Independent

The world’s most free-thinking newspaper

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  • Civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin, who refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in 1955, has died at the age of 86.
  • Her act of defiance in Montgomery, Alabama, on 2 March 1955, occurred months before Rosa Parks' more widely recognised stand.
  • Then-15-year-old Colvin was arrested for violating segregation laws and later became a named plaintiff in the landmark lawsuit that outlawed racial segregation on Montgomery’s public transport system.
  • Black leaders initially did not publicise her actions, opting instead to support Rosa Parks as a legal test case.
  • Colvin later moved to New York City, where she worked as a nurse's aide for 35 years, and her arrest record was expunged in 2021.

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