Milwaukee County buses to keep a seat open for Rosa Parks, Claudette Colvin

Milwaukee County Transit System buses will keep a seat open for two civil rights leaders, Rosa Parks and Claudette Colvin, beginning Friday.

This is now the eighth consecutive year that MCTS has recognized Parks and her iconic story. A less well-known civil rights leader is Claudette Colvin.

She was a key player in the civil rights movement in Alabama during the 1950s. At age 15, she refused to give up her seat on a segregated Montgomery, Alabama, bus and was arrested.

Colvin’s courageous act was a full nine months before Park’s famous act on Dec. 1, 1955.

Neither lady are considered the first Black person in the South who refused to give up their seat on a bus to a white passenger, but both incidents happened at a crucial time during the civil rights movement.

A prominent Montgomery lawyer and activist, Fred Gray, took on Colvin as a client and aimed to file a federal civil rights lawsuit against the Montgomery bus system.

However, other local civil rights leaders and Colvin, by her own admission, believed her age, darker skin tone, and recent pregnancy, would make pursuing a suit near impossible.

In 1956, Gray went on to bring a case before the U.S. Supreme Court representing Black women who were treated unconstitutionally on the Montgomery bus system. The court upheld an earlier ruling that bus segregation was in violation of the 14th Amendment, providing equal protection under the laws to all citizens regardless of race.

When Parks, a 42-year-old NAACP secretary, refused to give up her seat she was also arrested. The act triggered the Montgomery Bus Boycott, when Black residents refused to use the bus system for 381 days. It is considered the first large-scale U.S. demonstration against segregation.

Both women will be recognized by MCTS this weekend. Each reserved seat will include a red rose and special placard with Park’s photo.

MCTS’ Rosa Parks scholarship

In addition to the bus tribute, MCTS is opening its annual Rosa Parks scholarship program.

High school seniors in Milwaukee County who will attend a trade school, college or university are encourage to apply.

The application includes writing a short essay inspired by Parks’ quote, “Each person must live their life as a model for others.”

Entries must be submitted by Jan. 6, 2024. Three winners will receive $1,000 toward their higher education. Winners will be announced on Parks’ birthday, Feb. 4. To apply visit RideMCTS.com/Scholarship.