What did you learn about Rosa Parks growing up? You may have learned, like I did, that she was a tired seamstress on her way home from work and when a bus driver asked her to give up her seat to a white person it was the last straw so she decided not to stand. Well she was a seamstress, but the true story is so much more exciting than that. Rosa Parks was a high ranking member of the NAACP and her actions were not only planned but part of a larger, multi-organizational strategy. In this episode we talk about all of the events leading up to Ms. Parks’ fateful decision, and one of the unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement: Claudette Colvin. 

Montgomery Bus Boycott-Stanford 

 

Claudette Colvin: The 15 Year Old Who Came Before Rosa Parks

 

Before Rosa Parks There Was Claudette Colvin (NPR)

 

An Interview with Attorney Fred Gray 

 

Bus Boycott Took Planning, Smarts

 

Browder v Gayle

Song Credit: “Away” by Geographer and “Beach Disco” by Dougie Wood