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.