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The CDF Freedom Schools® program is rooted in the history and vision of the Civil Rights Movement, and Black leadership propels the program to this day. Every day at CDF Freedom Schools, young scholars learn about, reflect on, and apply the lessons of real-life Black heroes. In that spirit, we're celebrating Black History Month by asking the staff of some of our exemplary CDF Freedom Schools sponsor organizations to tell us who inspires them and whose footsteps they seek to walk in as they serve our country's children.
Inspiring figure in Black history: Claudette Colvin
The figure in Black history that inspires me the most is Claudette Colvin.
What about this person's story or legacy inspires you today?
In 1955 at just 15 years old, Claudette Colvin was the first person to be arrested and detained for challenging the Montgomery bus segregation laws. She proclaimed her constitutional right to sit freely on the bus and not surrender her seat to a young white woman, in the face of law enforcement, almost a year before Rosa Parks. At the time, Rosa Parks was thought to be a more acceptable representation of the Montgomery Bus Boycotts, because teenagers were perceived to be unreliable. Colvin's story was overshadowed by Parks' in the media, but it was Colvin's testimony in the Supreme Court that helped to rule the end of bus segregation. Claudette Colvin inspires me to continue elevating the voices of young people.
How do you seek to live your life or serve the young people of your community in that person's honor?
Colvin reminds me of the young people WA-BLOC works alongside today. It is the fervent disposition of the youth that has always inspired the radicalism and fearlessness of successful social action movements. I seek to live my life in commitment to intergenerational leadership development in order to move social action efforts forward.
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