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Outlook: The girl who acted before Rosa Parks

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The girl who acted before Rosa Parks

24/01/2022 GMT

BBC World Service - Outlook, The girl who acted before Rosa Parks

Claudette Colvin, for decades an unsung hero of the US civil rights movement

Claudette Colvin was for years an unsung hero of the US civil rights movement. She refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white passenger, and was arrested in the process.

In 1955 when Claudette Colvin was just 15 years old and living in the racially-segregated city of Montgomery, Alabama, she refused to give up her seat on a bus for a white passenger - nine months before Rosa Parks did the same thing and inspired a revolution. At the time, Claudette was convicted of assaulting a police officer and her criminal record remained for 66 years, until last year when she decided to clear her name - her record was finally expunged in November 2021. Claudette spoke to Matthew Bannister about her extraordinary life. This interview was first broadcast in February 2018.

Many African-American cemeteries in the US have fallen into disrepair over the years - one of them is Geer cemetery in the city of Durham, North Carolina. It was founded in the 19th century when racial segregation laws meant that black people had to be buried separately from white people and over 1,500 people are believed to be buried at Geer. Of that number, only around 200 headstones remain and the stories of those interred were at risk of being lost forever. That was until a group of volunteers called "Friends of Geer" stepped in - they are now working to reclaim the histories of those buried there. Reporter Danny Greenwald went to meet two of the group's members - Michael Williams and Deirdre Barnes. Danny Greenwald also composed the music in this report.

Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com

Image: Claudette Colvin at the 2020 Embrace Ambition Summit by the Tory Burch Foundation at Jazz at Lincoln Center on 5 March 2020 (Credit: Craig Barritt/Getty Images for Tory Burch Foundation)

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