YANF Revamp: Claudette Colvin

SPEAKER_1 (0:00)

This episode is brought to you by ChatGPT.

Hey, it's Bill Simmons from the Bill Simmons Podcast. Have you guys heard about ChatGPT work? It's the new way to use ChatGPT for bigger multi-step projects. And when you need more than just answers, you have ChatGPT work, access to your apps and files, and it can create real work documents like spreadsheets, slides and structured reports. Get started at chatgpt.com by selecting work mode available on Plus and Pro plans.

SPEAKER_2 (0:30)

Your credit card company is hoping you don't hear this. They're charging you 21% APR interest, making it hard to pay down your balance. A home equity loan from Rocket Mortgage could cut your interest rate by more than half. So you could wipe out your high interest credit card debt with the equity you've built in your home. Without touching your current mortgage rate, see how much you could save at rocketmortgage.com. Rocket Mortgage LLC, license in 50 states. nmlsconsumeraccess.org, number 3030 Call 800-4-ROCKET for full program details.

Madigan (1:00)

Hi, I'm Madigan, and you're listening to Your Angry Neighborhood Feminist, a podcast that explores the world through a personal feminist perspective.

Hello, everyone. I'm going to give you a quick little health update. I'm feeling quite a bit better, but I'm still very congested and dealing with being out of breath. So hopefully, this episode sounds okay.

I've been coughing and clearing my throat a lot more because I think I'm finally getting everything out of my system. So hopefully, that doesn't translate too terribly to this episode. But I really, really wanted to get this one done and out to you all no matter what. Firstly, I have to start this episode with a very embarrassing confession.

I screwed up massively. So on September 5th, I was seeing lots of posts about Claudette Colvin on my Instagram page. And a lot of them were listing her birth year and her death year as 2026 And in my brain, I think especially because I'm sick and medicated for that, I was like, oh my gosh, Claudette Colvin just died. And I decided, you know, I've got to redo the episode that I did with Keegan years ago. I've got to talk about her in the mini news episode because of this. And then when I went to start my research, I read that her birthday was September 5th. And I was like, oh my gosh, she died on her birthday? That's terrible. Scroll down a little further. Nope, she did not die on September 5th, 2026 She actually passed away in January.

One of the big things that I was angry about on Instagram when discussing the fact that I thought she had just died, was how little people recognized her passing and how few people even knew who Claudette Colvin was. And I was setting another example of that. Even as someone who is well aware of who this woman is slash was, I was not aware when she passed away. Why was that not all over my social media pages? I really don't understand. And the reason I'm so upset is because Claudette Colvin is the first known black person to boldly defend her right to sit where she pleases on a bus. And she was only 15 years old when she did that. It wasn't until nine months later that the infamous Rosa Parks would do the same, and immediately the world would know Rosa's name. But we have all but forgotten Claudette Colvin.

But why is it that we know all about Rosa Parks and so few are aware of the name Claudette Colvin? The answer may surprise you, and it's definitely upsetting. Claudette's skin was too dark, her hair too unkempt, she was a child, and on top of all of that, shortly after her arrest, she became pregnant. Even the NAACP felt that she wasn't fit to be the face of the Montgomery bus boycotts. Claudette's own mother told her to step aside and let Rosa shine. Because of this, when we learn about the civil rights movement in schools, we automatically assume that Rosa Parks was the first, leaving Claudette and a handful of others in the fine print, if anything. But I think it's time we change that narrative, especially since we lost Claudette in January of 2026

Her memory, her determination, and her hard work does not deserve to be forgotten, not if I have anything to do with it.

Back in February 2018, literally the second month of this podcast, my former co-host covered Claudette in half of an episode, while I covered Rosa Parks in the other half. In that episode, we took to calling them Grandma Rosa and Auntie Claudia. And ever since, that's kind of how I've seen them. I've always referred to Claudette Colvin as Auntie Claudia or Claudia. So if I refer to her as Claudia throughout the episode, know that this isn't meant with any disrespect, but more as a term of endearment, as I feel she gives off a powerful auntie energy, and I think she'd like the nickname Claudia, but I don't know. With that out of the way, let's get into Claudette's childhood and talk about where she came from.