Being dragged off that bus was worth it just to see Barack Obama become president, because so many others gave their lives and didn’t get to see it, and I thank God for letting me see it.
CLAUDETTE COLVINI lost most of my friends. Their parents had told them to stay away from me, because they said I was crazy, I was an extremist.
More Claudette Colvin Quotes
-
-
I always tell young people to hold on to their dreams. And sometimes you have to stand up for what you think is right even if you have to stand alone.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN -
When I told my mother I was pregnant, I thought she was going to have a heart attack.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN -
For African-Americans, it’s still going to be – some people say double hard – I’d say four times as hard. Be an opportunist. Take advantage of your resources, because the only way to win is with education, self-esteem, having value in yourself.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN -
I left the South in 1963 and was living in Morristown, New Jersey, when the March on Washington took place, so I watched it on television instead.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN -
When our founding fathers drafted the Constitution and Bill of Rights, black people weren’t even considered human.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN -
There were many African Americans – many, many stories similar to my story.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN -
There was segregation everywhere. The churches, buses and schools were all segregated and you couldn’t even go into the same restaurants.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN -
We were churchgoing people.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN -
I wanted to be an attorney. My mother would say I never stopped talking. I always had a lot of questions to ask, and I was never satisfied with the answer. A lot of things I wasn’t satisfied by.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN -
I never swore when I was young.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN -
The light-skinned girls always thought they were better looking. So did the teachers, too. That meant most of the dark complexion ones didn’t like themselves.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN -
New York is a completely different culture to Montgomery, Alabama.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN -
I sleep when the sleep comes down on me.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN -
I lost most of my friends. Their parents had told them to stay away from me, because they said I was crazy, I was an extremist.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN -
I was ostracized by my community.
CLAUDETTE COLVIN







