Before there was Rosa Parks, there was Claudette Colvin.

#BlackAmerican #BlackHistory #AmericanHistory #BlackHistorymonth #ClaudetteColvin

Most people think of Rosa Parks as the first person to refuse to give up their seat on a bus in Montgomery, Alabama. There were actually several women who came before her; one of whom was Claudette Colvin.

It was March 2, 1955, when the fifteen-year-old schoolgirl refused to move to the back of the bus, nine months before Rosa Parks’ stand that launched the Montgomery bus boycott. Claudette had been studying Black leaders like Harriet Tubman in her segregated school, those conversations had led to discussions around the current day Jim Crow laws they were all experiencing. When the bus driver ordered Claudette to get up, she refused, “It felt like Sojourner Truth was on one side pushing me down, and Harriet Tubman was on the other side of me pushing me down. I couldn't get up."

Claudette Colvin’s stand didn’t stop there. Arrested and thrown in jail, she was one of four women who challenged the segregation law in court. If Browder v. Gayle became the court case that successfully overturned bus segregation laws in both Montgomery and Alabama, why has Claudette’s story been largely forgotten? At the time, the NAACP and other Black organizations felt Rosa Parks made a better icon for the movement than a teenager. As an adult with the right look, Rosa Parks was also the secretary of the NAACP, and was both well-known and respected – people would associate her with the middle class and that would attract support for the cause. But the struggle to end segregation was often fought by young people, more than half of which were women.

Image: Claudette Colvin by Phillip Hoose

Comments

12 Reasons Why Couples Break Up

#Couplestherapy #Arguments #Finances #DomesticViolence #BlackMaleTherapist #Triple5LightTherapy #AfricanAmericantherapist Whether it’s a relatively new relationship or a long-time marriage , breaking up is hard. Research published in the Journal of Family Psychology shows that breakups increase psychological distress and reduce life satisfaction. Often, the negative effects of a breakup can impact one’s mental health for months, even years, after the dissolution. After a relationship goes south, it’s important to take stock of what went wrong. This can be done by yourself or with the help of a therapist and it can prevent you from entering a similarly vulnerable situation in the future. It’s also important to orient yourself to the common things that lead to breakups. This can help normalize your own situation and perhaps steer you down a better path in the future. Remember, breaking up is a part of life: approximately half of first-time marriages end in di...

The Enduring Beauty Of Selena's Legacy

#Selena #Tejano #SelenaQuintanillaPerez By Ashley Monae Oct 10, 2017 rez. On March 31, 1995, the world was shaken by the untimely death of Tejano singer Selena Quintanilla-Perez. At just 23 years old, her career was skyrocketing toward crossover success. But just as she was settling into her fame, it was taken away in the blink of an eye when she was shot and tragically killed by a former fan club president. No one foresaw the harrowing ordeal, and the news arrived without warning. As a result, Selena, who was poised for pop culture phenomenon status, would unfortunately never witness her efforts and hard work fully materialize. Selena's legacy continues to shine two decades following her passing from her music to makeup lines and museums. Her star took flight in earnest one night in 1989 when Selena performed at the San Antonio Convention Center. The occasion was the ninth annual Tejano Music Awards. Her irresistible charm lit up the stage as she sang the likes of ...

The Psychology of Hoarding Toilet Paper, Beans & Soup

#Hoarding #PanicBuying #COVID-19 #Anxiety #Emotions #Therapy #Triple5LightTherapy.com By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. There’s a very good article by Bella DePaulo, Ph.D. Why Are People Hoarding Toilet Paper? that dives into the psychology of this behavior. It’s a good question because what we’re seeing are American consumers acting in a seemingly irrational manner in reaction to the spread of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. Panic buying is what people do when faced with an imminent disaster, whether it be natural — such as a hurricane or snowstorm — or something else, like the spread of a virus for which there is no effective treatment or vaccine. And while it seems irrational on the surface, it actually has a rational basis. I think one of the reasons panic buying seems to make less sense to some during this pandemic is the fact that it’s likely to not just last a few days or weeks, but months to come. There’s little chance most people can s...

‘Homecoming’ Documentary Comes With a Surprise: A Beyoncé Live Album

Beyoncé announced a Netflix documentary called “Homecoming” about her 2018 Coachella performance. But she had another surprise in store.Credit Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Coachella #Beyoncé #Homecoming #Documentary #Netflix #LiveAlbum When it comes to Beyoncé releases, there is usually an element of surprise. The singer — who perfected the secret album drop in 2013, and has since toyed with the tactic for releases like “Lemonade” and “Everything Is Love,” with her husband Jay-Z — did it again in the early morning hours Wednesday, one-upping the arrival of her own Netflix documentary, “Homecoming,” with a previously unannounced live-album version of the same concert. [Read our review of the Beyoncé documentary “Homecoming.”] Both the film and the album, also titled “Homecoming,” capture Beyoncé’s performance at last year’s Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, in which the singer — the first black woman to headline the event — was backed by dozens of dancers and an ...

Triple5Light Therapy

Search This Blog