Before Rosa, Claudette Sat
by Alivia Hsu, 14
He told her to move
To shrink her shoulders and give him her seat
Because he was a white man and thus commanded the world
Because the bus belonged only to those who were not her
She was just fifteen, black, a girl, and unmarried
And in addition, too bold
Not someone you’d want to put on a role model billboard
Oh no. She was everything that was nothing
She was negative space to him
A ghost and not a girl
And so, when he commanded her to give him her seat
Her knees trembled beneath her collared dress,
But her “no” was steely
“It’s my Constitutional right!”
Although her heart quaked, she made her spine a pillar.
She felt Harriet Tubman’s hands on one shoulder
And Sojourner Truth’s on her other
Because of them, she would bear the weight of her fear
And spark those who refused to move after her
Her mentor Rosa Parks, for instance
Rosa would be spotlighted
While Claudette would be forgotten
But not by me
When my teacher told me of this teen heroine
I was amazed that a girl only a couple years older than I was
Could be so influential
I didn’t know
I mattered
And so, as I imagined that bus 70 years ago
I imagine a girl like me, yet not
I can almost smell her sweat and weariness
How she was done being a moveable accessory–
The chess piece that was knocked off the board as soon as a royal walked along
Her “no” would resound in the silence
As her slender hands gripped the rail,
I could feel her hands grip mine
Telling me what I choose everyday matters
And that…
In the silence, the past and the future waits
Shaped by one girl’s breath
“Move.”
He said.
His words were a dull knife against her resolve
My eyes widen as I think of her
Steeling herself not to let that word cut her heart
He would not cut her because she would not let him
Because although we can’t control others
We can decide how we react
At God’s feet, she and the man were equals
And so, she stayed where she was.
Could it be we have this unruly teenage girl to thank for #Black Lives Matter
58 years before it began?
We don’t even know
As only fragments of her story survived
On the lips of the historians who excavated the truth
We kids learn it was Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat
Not an unruly girl more our age
Because how could a teen’s contributions be part of history?
Maybe if you’re French? (Ahem. Joan of Arc)
Anyway, it’s the exception instead of the rule
And so, who knows how many important young people’s stories
have been lost through the millennia…?
When Rosa was credited even though Claudette is the cause
Instead, we should know that the girl with the strength to sit still instead of stand
To say no instead of yes to 429 years of injustice
To spark an entire movement from her seat
That such a girl is possible
I cannot help but ponder
That if we told children they could be history’s heroes
That even those who sing in the minor keys
have the power to empower
We would have more heroes to solve our problems today
Poet’s Note: Claudette Colvin was a 15-year-old African American from Montgomery, Alabama who, in March 1955, refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on the bus. This act occurred nine months before her mentor Rosa Parks’ more widely known protest, yet Claudette’s story remains largely unknown. Despite her bravery and passion for black activists, Claudette faced harsh criticism and isolation even within her own community and race, partly due to her age and the fact that she was unmarried. This 15-year-old reminds us that we need to celebrate the contributions of the young and unseen.