Claudette Colvin Day
Bronx, New York-On Wednesday, March 2, 2016, 12:00-2:30 PM students, parents, teachers and elected officials will have a unique opportunity to witness the historic launching of Claudette Colvin Scholarship in the present of a living legend, Ms. Claudette Colvin, who is being represented by the same law firm that had filed and won the of Browder vs Gaye case, under the leadership of legendary Fred L Gray.
This momentous occasion happening during the lifetime of Ms. Colvin is a part of a movement to restoring a long delayed justice and reaffirming the continuation of her legacy. It’s especially befitting that it is taking place in the Bronx County where Ms. Colvin lives a quiet life with her family for decades. In addition to the scholarship, Claudette Colvin Day Foundation is being established by her lawyers to promote the annual celebrations of “Claudette Colvin Day” In schools.
At this celebration, several Proclamations and awards to officially affirmed March 2nd as Claudette Colvin Day in New York will be presented by elected officials including that of New York City and Mount Vernon Mayors. Parents are encouraged to bring their children to meet and take pictures with their heroine whom they will soon be learning more about in schools. Thank you.
Venue: Al Iman Community Center, 2006 Westchester Avenue, Bronx, New York 10462. www.peacedecember.org
For Further information about this event, please contact us at: info@peacedecember.org or call 718-239-5555.
BACKGROUND:
Re: National Justice Awareness Campaign.
Wednesday, December 2, 2015, Bronx, New York, The New York Peace
Coalition, through its Peace December movement, affirmed and recognized
the Honorable Claudette Colvin yesterday at The Bronx Library Center.
Hon. Colvin is the first civil rights leader who had refused to give up
her bus seat to a white person in Montgomery, Alabama. Her bold stance in
the face of injustice has made renowned heroes like the Honorable Rosa
Parks and Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King to take assume the mantra of
well deserving accolades in history that highlights the Montgomery Bus
Boycott and the eventual passage of the civil rights laws that ended
segregation in Alabama.
Yesterday’s event at the Bronx Library Center honored the person that triggered the whole action that has gone into the world’s history books. It is text book clear that the Honorable Colvin is the unsung hero and a living legend of our time who deserves the same recognition as the Honorable Rosa Parks, Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King and other civil rights icons that have taken the front seat in America’s historic journey.
Browder vs. Gayle
In 1956, Claudette Colvin brought her case to the state court and eventually the Supreme Court. Claudette and her three classmates served as plaintiffs in Browder v. Gayle lawsuit to testify against the discrimination and segregation on Montgomery buses. The boycott of buses in Montgomery was active and in full force as well. The ruling of this case banned segregation on public transportation in Montgomery, Alabama. This victory helped break down barriers and other injustices that negatively affected African Americans across the nation.
While we recognize that Hon. Rosa Parks, through NAACP campaign, became the face of resilience surrounding the Montgomery bus segregation uprising, we would like to affirm Hon. Colvin as being the first person who refused to give up the seat and her action inspired Hon. Parks.
Today, America has registered this social justice historic hallmark as a
precedence inspiring America’s legal discourse and motivating civil rights
leaders of our time because of the immovable stand in the face of
injustice from both Mrs. Colvin and Mrs. Parks.
To this end, the New York Peace Coalition, in collaboration with elected
officials in New York, has launched a national justice awareness campaign
to render the long overdue and delayed credit to the unsung heroine of the
civil rights movement, the Honorable Claudette Colvin.
This campaign includes:
1.Establish ‘Claudette Colvin Day Foundation’ to commemorate the annual celebration of Claudette Colvin Day on March 2nd.
2. Establishing a scholarship fund in her name on March 2, 2016 during the
Commission on the Status of Women event at the United Nations.
3. Asking President Obama to honor her with ‘Presidential Medal of Freedom’
4. Asking Congressional Black Caucus, 1199SEIU and others to publicly recognize the importance of her unique contributions to ending the Montgomery bus segregation.
For further information about this campaign, please contact us at:
info@peacedecember.org. www.peacedecember.org