Editing Claudette Colvin (section)

==Recognition==
[[File:Claudette Colvin 2005.png|thumb|Colvin at the [[San Francisco Public Library]], January 2005.]]
[[File:Claudette Colvin 2014.png|thumb|Colvin speaking at [[Bethany Baptist Church (Newark, New Jersey)|Bethany Baptist Church]] for [[Women's History Month]], 2014.]]
Colvin has often said she is not angry that she did not get more recognition; rather, she is disappointed. She said she felt as if she was "getting [her] Christmas in January rather than the 25th."<ref name=MontAdvertiser>{{cite web| last= Kitchen| first= Sebastian| url= http://www.montgomeryboycott.com/claudette-colvin/ |title= Claudette Colvin| work= [[Montgomery Advertiser]]| via= MontgomeryBusBoycott.com| access-date= February 8, 2016}}</ref>

{{blockquote|I don’t think there’s room for many more icons. I think that history only has room enough for certain—you know, how many icons can you choose? So, you know, I think you compare history, like—most historians say Columbus discovered America, and it was already populated. But they don’t say that Columbus discovered America; they should say, for the European people, that is, you know, their discovery of the new world.<ref>{{Cite news| url= https://www.democracynow.org/2013/3/29/the_other_rosa_parks_now_73|title=The Other Rosa Parks: Now 73, Claudette Colvin Was First to Refuse Giving Up Seat on Montgomery Bus |work= [[Democracy Now!]] |access-date=November 3, 2017}}</ref>| Claudette Colvin}}

Colvin and her family have been fighting for recognition for her actions. In 2016, the [[Smithsonian Institution]] and its [[National Museum of African American History and Culture]] (NMAAHC) were challenged by Colvin and her family, who asked that Colvin be given a more prominent mention in the history of the civil rights movement. The NMAAHC has a section dedicated to Rosa Parks, which Colvin does not want taken away. Still her family's goal is to get the historical record right, and for officials to include Colvin's part of history. Colvin was not invited officially for the formal dedication of the museum, which opened to the public in September 2016.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite news|url=http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2016/11/30/claudette-colvin-civil-rights-movement-smithsonian/|title=Claudette Colvin Seeks Greater Recognition For Role In Making Civil Rights History| website= newyork.cbslocal.com| publisher= [[WINS (AM)|WINS]] | date= November 30, 2016| access-date=November 3, 2017|language=en}}</ref>

"All we want is the truth, why does history fail to get it right?" Colvin's sister, Gloria Laster, said. "Had it not been for Claudette Colvin, Aurelia Browder, Susie McDonald, and Mary Louise Smith, there may not have been a [[Thurgood Marshall]], a [[Martin Luther King Jr.|Martin Luther King]] or a [[Rosa Parks]]."<ref name="auto1"/>These women helped assemble and set in motion a legal and cultural shift. 

In 2000, [[Troy University at Montgomery]] opened the [[Rosa Parks Museum]] in Montgomery to honor the town's place in civil rights history. Roy White, who was in charge of most of the project, asked Colvin if she would like to appear in a video to tell her story, but Colvin refused. She said, "They've already called it the Rosa Parks museum, so they've already made up their minds what the story is."<ref>{{Cite news| url= https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2000/dec/16/weekend.garyyounge| title= Weekend: Civil rights heroine Claudette Colvin| last= Younge| first= Gary| date= December 16, 2000| newspaper= The Guardian |access-date=November 3, 2017|language=en-GB| issn= 0261-3077}}</ref>

In 2010, the street Colvin lived on when she was a young girl was named Claudette Colvin Drive in her honor. It is located off Upper Wetumpka Road in [[Montgomery, Alabama]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2021/12/16/who-claudette-colvin-civil-rights-leader-arrested-occupying-bus-seat-montgomery/6507074001/#:~:text=The%20street%20she%20lived%20on,Upper%20Wetumpka%20Road%20in%20Montgomery. | title=Who was Claudette Colvin? Honoring the Montgomery woman arrested for refusing to give up bus seat|first=Molly |last=Weisner |website= Montgomery Advertiser |date=December 16, 2021}}</ref>

Reverend Joseph Rembert has said, "If nobody did anything for Claudette Colvin in the past why don't we do something for her right now?" He contacted Montgomery Councilmen Tracy Larkin (whose sister was on the bus in 1955 when Colvin was arrested) and Charles Jinright. In 2017, the Council passed a resolution for a proclamation honoring Colvin. March 2 was named Claudette Colvin Day in Montgomery. Mayor Todd Strange presented the proclamation and, when speaking of Colvin, said, "She was an early foot soldier in our civil rights, and we did not want this opportunity to go by without declaring March 2 as Claudette Colvin Day to thank her for her leadership in the modern day civil rights movement." Rembert said, "I know people have heard her name before, but I just thought we should have a day to celebrate her." Colvin could not attend the proclamation due to health concerns.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite news |url= http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2017/02/21/claudette-colvin-honored-city-council-tonight/98197322/|title=Claudette Colvin honored by Montgomery council |work= [[The Montgomery Advertiser]] |access-date=November 3, 2017|language=en}}</ref>

In 2019, a statue of Rosa Parks was unveiled in Montgomery, Alabama, and four granite markers were also unveiled near the statue on the same day to honor the four plaintiffs in ''Browder v. Gayle'', including Colvin.<ref name="stanford1">{{cite web| url= https://kinginstitute.stanford.edu/encyclopedia/browder-v-gayle-352-us-903 |title=Browder v. Gayle, 352 U.S. 903| publisher= The Martin Luther King, Jr., Research and Education Institute | website= kinginstitute.stanford.edu |date=April 24, 2017|access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://richmondfreepress.com/news/2019/dec/06/alabama-unveils-statue-civil-rights-icon-rosa-park/ |title=Alabama unveils statue of civil rights icon Rosa Parks| place= Richmond, Virginia | work= [[Richmond Free Press]] |date=2019 |access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://wjla.com/news/nation-world/rosa-parks-civil-rights-statue-to-be-unveiled-in-alabama |title= Rosa Parks statue unveiled in Alabama on anniversary of her refusal to give up seat |website= [[WJLA]].com |access-date=December 9, 2019}}</ref>

In 2021, Colvin applied to the family court in Montgomery County, Alabama to have her juvenile record [[expungement|expunged]]. Daryl Bailey, the District Attorney for the county, supported her motion, stating: "Her actions back in March of 1955 were conscientious, not criminal; inspired, not illegal; they should have led to praise and not prosecution".<ref>{{Cite news|last=|first=|date=2021-12-16|title=She refused to move bus seats months before Rosa Parks. At 82, her arrest is expunged|language=en|work=NPR|agency=Associated Press|url=https://www.npr.org/2021/12/16/1064890661/claudette-colvin-rosa-parks-arrest-record-expunged|access-date=2021-12-19}}</ref> The judge ordered that the juvenile record be expunged and destroyed in December 2021, stating that Colvin's refusal had "been recognized as a courageous act on her behalf and on behalf of a community of affected people".<ref>{{Cite web|last=Kirkland|first=Pamela|date=December 16, 2021|title=Claudette Colvin's juvenile record has been expunged, 66 years after she was arrested for refusing to give her bus seat to a White person|url=https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/16/us/claudette-colvin-juvenile-record-expunged/index.html|work=[[CNN]]}}</ref>

Also in 2021, a [[mural]] honoring Colvin was unveiled, along Claudette Colvin Drive, in [[Montgomery, Alabama]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/story/news/2021/01/15/claudette-colvin-mural-unveiled-first-major-step-revitalizing-king-hill/4160390001/|title='An element of hope': Claudette Colvin mural unveiled as major step in revitalizing King Hill|first=Krista|last=Johnson|website=Montgomery Advertiser}}</ref>