February 9, 2025 • 20 mins
HAPPY BLACK HISTORY MONTH!!! I don't know about y'all, but I wake up every day proud to be BLICKETY BLACK BLACK BLACK BLACK!!!
In honor of Black History Month, I'd like to take some time to shed light on people in black history who may have been forgotten. In today's episode, let's journey through the unsung heroism of Claudette Colvin, the young girl whose defiance against segregation laws preceded Rosa Parks’ famous protest. Despite facing the harsh reality of Jim Crow laws and an unjust legal system, her defiant spirit remained unyielding. This episode doesn't just stop at sharing her story but also reflects on the broader struggle for respect and recognition in the Black community. We'll tackle controversial actions surrounding Black History Month, DEI rollbacks, and celebrate the enduring strength and pride of being Black, all while honoring those who've paved the way before us. Join me in this tribute to resilience and legacy.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Daijné (00:00):
Is this thing on?
Hello, hello, uh-oh, anotheryapper with a mic.
Hello everyone, and welcomeback to the Napkin In Between
Podcast.
I'm your host, Daijné Jones,how's your week been?
(00:22):
What's tea what's good.
What have you been up to?
Hope everyone has been having agreat week.
As I said in my last episode, Iwant to start doing this thing
every week, called the peak ofthe week, where we talk about
the joy that we found this pastweek, the things that made us
smile, the things that centeredus or grounded us or just helped
us remain present in the chaosof everything that is the world
(00:43):
right now.
For me, the peak of my week waswatching one of my favorite
shows, which is Scandal.
I'm re-watching Scandal.
I've seen it before.
I've watched this whole series,you know, from the beginning to
the end.
Every so often I'll pick anepisode and you know re-watch
that.
But right now I'm re-watchingthe whole series and I'm
watching it with my roommate,who has never seen it, so she's
(01:03):
watching it for the first time.
A part of me always wishes thatI could erase my memory and go
back and watch scandal for thefirst time, because it's just
such a good show and, I think,the closest that I would ever
get to.
That is watching it withsomeone who has never seen it.
Like I feel like, as we'rewatching it, I'm watching it,
but I'm like watching her watchit.
Do you know what I mean?
(01:23):
Like I'm I know what's comingup, so I'll like look at her to
see like how she reacts, ifshe's going to react how I
reacted when I first saw thatthing on Scandal and it's just
so funny.
It's like an out of bodyexperience almost watching
someone else watch one of yourfavorite shows.
And my roommate and I are verysimilar and so like she's been
reacting to things the way thatI reacted to them when I first
(01:44):
watched the show and it's justfunny to see.
It's funny to see someone elselike enjoy something that is one
of your favorite shows.
Does that make sense?
I don't know, but we justfinished season two.
Spoiler alert if you haven'tseen Scandal, I'm so sorry it's
been out for a minute.
Like that's totally on you ifyou don't know what I'm talking
about.
But we just got to the end ofseason two and she just found
out about Papa Pope, who is justfucking like one of the
(02:08):
craziest characters in the wholeseries, and so it was like when
Olivia was about to go on a runand she opened the door and all
the presses outside trying toquestion her like are you the
president's mistress, are youthe person like, you know,
whatever.
And then she gets into the limoand he's like hello, Olivia,
and she's like Dad.
The gasp that left my roommatewas so fucking funny and I
remember like the first time Iwatched a show, being in that
(02:30):
moment like I had the samevisceral reaction of just being
like jaw on the floor, flabbers,gasted, wind knocked out of me,
like the craziest thing.
But it's just so cool to watcha show with someone who has
never seen it, like watchingthem watch it.
It's just like so funny.
So that's definitely been thepeak of my week and I just love
scandal.
Shonda Rhimes is just again.
(02:51):
I just love when black womenlike just so talented and the
twists and the turns, and theone time in my life I feel like
I've ever rooted for arepublican, like what is going
on like Fitz.
Oh, I love him, I too, and itthat's like the crazy thing.
Shonda Rhimes makes you rootfor things that you would never
root for, like rooting for aRepublican, rooting for people
(03:12):
who are cheating, like notfeeling bad in the slightest for
Millie while her husband ischeating on her, like girl, like
Olivia and Fitz are dead,fucking wrong, dead fucking
wrong.
But I just I, I love them and Ineed to see them together and I
need to see them making jam andmoving to Vermont and it's just
like this man is married, butlike I don't care, like that's
(03:35):
crazy.
Scandal's a great show.
If you haven't seen it, you'remissing out.
You need to go see it.
But that's just been.
The peak of my week of just isjust re-watching scandal and
watching it with my roommate.
Another peak of my week, bitch,its Black History Month.
I love being black.
I love being black.
I don't know what happens afteryou die, but if you, if you
(03:57):
come back, if reincarnation isreal in every single life, I
want to be a black woman.
Top tier, 10 out of out of 10,no notes.
God really took his time.
God has favorites and hisfavorite is a black woman.
God is a black woman Like, oh,I just love being black, I love
being a woman.
I love being a black woman,like it's just everything and
(04:19):
more to me.
Honestly, I don't know.
I just love being black.
I love it all.
I love everything about it.
Happy black history month to my92 percent and to my 80 percent
and to my 92 percent 80 percentonly if you know.
You know, but I wanted to do aspecial thing for every episode
for February, and actually oneof these episodes is gonna go
(04:40):
into March because I didn't planit how I should have and so
last week's episode came out inFebruary.
I just didn't realize that itwas already February.
I feel like January wasextremely long, it was dragging
and so like I didn't realizethat it was finally fucking
February, like shit.
Why was January 3,000 yearslong For February,
And what we're gonna talk abouttoday, we are gonna talk about
(05:01):
someone who I feel is a pivotalperson in black history, but not
only a pivotal person, someonewho I feel like is a little bit
forgotten or lost or you guysmight not know a lot about.
There are so many people whoare pivotal parts of black
history that I feel like not alot of us know about, and it's
people that I'm also learningabout right now because I didn't
even know about them.
(05:21):
So the first person I want totalk about is Claudette Colvin.
Claudette Colvin was a teenagerin Montgomery, Alabama, who was
arrested for refusing to giveup her seat, nine months before
Rosa Parks was arrested for theexact same thing refusing to
give up her seat.
So on March 2nd 1955, Claudettewas coming home from public
school.
She was in a segregated schoolin Alabama it was the Booker T
(05:44):
Washington School, and she wouldtake public transportation to
and from school because herfamily didn't have a car.
So she gets on the bus cominghome from school with three
classmates and they're sittingin the colored only part of the
bus, because in that time in thesouth Jim Crow Laws and
segregation, there were whiteonly and colors only.
You know, know, drinkingfountains, restaurants, public
(06:05):
places like that, and then onthe bus there was a white only
section and a coloreds onlysection where obviously the
white people sat in the front.
Something that I didn't know isthat bus drivers had the
ability to move the whites onlysign on buses, and so If the
section that was deemed whitesonly was full and other white
(06:26):
people got on the bus, then thebus driver could move the sign
back and then make part of whatwould be the colors only part of
the bus.
It now would be for whitepeople to sit down as well.
So a white woman gets on thebus, all the seats in the white
only section are already full,and so the bus driver moves the
sign back and is like OK, you,you four, Claudette and um,
(06:47):
three of her classmates.
They were like you four need toto move.
And so her three classmatesimmediately, you know, agreed
they get up and they, they movedback.
Claudette sat in her seat and atthe time that she had decided
to sit in her seat, she was alsoin school.
They were learning about thecivil rights movement and black
history, and so in an interviewyears later, when they were
(07:08):
talking about the situation, youknow, Claudette said that she
felt like she had Harriet Tubmanpushing down on one side of her
shoulder and then SojournerTruth was pushing down the other
shoulder, and she said that shefelt like she was glued in her
seat and she could not movebecause history was keeping her
seated, and so she refuses togive up her seat and the bus
driver is like why aren't youmoving?
(07:30):
Like this woman wants to sitdown.
And and the thing was the rowthat they were sitting in.
The woman could have sat down,but she would have been sitting
in the same row as Claudette.
And she didn't want to do thatbecause at the time, if you were
seated in the same row as ablack person, it meant that
y'all were on the same level.
And in the South, even stilltoday I don't know why I'm
(07:51):
speaking as though this is likenot a thing anymore white people
will view themselves assuperior to black people and
other people of color.
And so she didn't wanna sit inthe row with Claudette.
She wanted Claudette to get upand move so that she was not on
the same level.
So much for separate but equalright any fucking way.
So Claudette's refusing to move.
She's like I'm not giving up myseat.
(08:11):
She says it's a violation ofher constitutional rights.
When the bus driver asks herwhy she won't move, she just
says it's a violation of myconstitutional rights, I'm not
moving.
And so the bus driver's likewell, if you don't move, you
know I'm going to call thepolice.
And Claudette said call thepo-po-ho.
Like I don't give a fuck, I'mparaphrasing.
Obviously she didn't say that,but she was like okay, call the
police then.
So bus driver calls the policeand as she's being handcuffed
(08:33):
and dragged off the bus and, youknow, put in the police car,
she's just continuing to say,like this is a violation of my
constitutional rights, this is aviolation of my constitutional
rights.
So on the ride down to thepolice station the officers were
sexually harassing Claudettewhile she was in the police car.
(08:54):
They're making comments abouther body, you know, trying to
guess her her bra size.
She even said that you know,one of the officers sat in the
back of the police car with her,which really scared her because
she was worried that she wouldbe sexually assaulted.
And so they take her to jailand she is charged with
disorderly conduct, violatingsegregation laws and assaulting
a police officer.
They also said that during thearrest she was like clawing at
them and kicking them, whichnone of that happened.
(09:17):
They were just tacking oncharges because she refused to
give up her seat.
A minister from her churchbails her out and she's put on
trial.
She's represented by Fred Gray,who was a well-known um civil
rights lawyer at the time, andshe is found guilty of all three
charges.
There was an appeal to her casea couple months later, in May
of 1955 and two of her chargesthe disorderly conduct and
(09:39):
violating segregation laws.
Those two charges were droppedbut the assaulting a police
officer still stood and she hadthat on her record until 2021
when a federal judge in Alabamaexpunged her record.
So if you're like me, you'rekind of wondering like why is
her story not as widely known ortold?
Why don't we learn about her?
(10:00):
In you know the civil rightsmovement?
And ultimately it came down toher not being an appealing
protester.
Claudette refusing to give upher seat wasn't like a random
act or just something that shehad decided to do that day.
She wanted to get into activism.
She, like I said, was learningabout you know black history and
the civil rights movement inschool and she had hopes to one
(10:21):
day be president of the UnitedStates and she wanted to get
into activism.
One of the things that reallyignited her fire of wanting to
get into activism was the caseof Jeremiah Reeves.
If you're unfamiliar with thatcase, it was a 16 year old boy
who was accused of raping awhite woman.
He held that it was consensualsex between him and this woman.
(10:42):
They were caught having sex.
The white woman cried rape.
He was tried and executed forraping a white woman.
The case of Jeremiah Rueeveswas in 1952.
And so Claudette had beenlearning about the case and
following it and that's kind ofwhat ignited her fire to want to
be an activist for civil rights.
But ultimately she was not seenas an appealing protester.
You know, civil rights leadershad to carefully pick who they
(11:06):
made the face of their protestsin order to be taken seriously.
And Claudette was a teenager,she was dark-skinned, she didn't
have quote-unquote good hairand she was pregnant.
And so if they would have madeher the face of the Montgomery
bus boycott, they would haveripped her to shreds they
meaning white people they wouldhave not taken her seriously,
they would have vilified her,which I'm sure they still did
(11:28):
with Rosa Parks, you know, eventhough she fit the mold more
than Claudette.
I'm sure they did the exactsame thing to Rosa Parks.
But for a girl like Claudette, ateenager, dark-skinned,
quote-unquote unruly, not goodhair and pregnant, had she been
the face of the Montgomery busboycott, you know, they just
would not have even given it thetime of day, they wouldn't have
paid the attention to it thatthey did when Rosa Parks was the
(11:51):
face of it, and even in aninterview.
You know, because nine monthsafter Claudette refused to give
up her seat is when Rosa Parksended up refusing to give up her
seat, and in an interviewClaudette said that her mom told
her to just let Rosa Parks haveit, to let Rosa Parks be the
face of the movement, becausethe way that Claudette's mom
explained it to her is thatwhite people already liked Rosa
(12:11):
Parks.
She was the secretary of thecity's chapter of the NAACP.
She was fair-skinned, she hadquote-unquote good hair.
You know she was this womanthat they had essentially given
some respect to.
Obviously she's still a blackwoman, so the respect was very
slim, but she was in a morerespected position than
Claudette and like.
Thinking about that makes myfucking blood boil.
(12:34):
Like all black people wantedwas to be treated with respect
and to not be like demeaned orlook like, looked at as less
than or just want to justrespect.
You know what I mean.
Even today, we thought we haveto pick and choose who we make
the face of things, because ifyou don't fit you know this
certain criteria, they're notgoing to give you the time of
day, they're not going to listento you or you know anything.
(12:56):
It's just the most ridiculousthing, and so you know Claudette
says that.
You know she doesn't feelslighted in any way.
She like, understands, and shefeels like what Rosa Parks did
still helped.
So at the end of the day, it'slike we got to where we wanted
to be, but it's just like it'sdisgusting that.
You know we even have to dothat.
(13:16):
We have to pick and choose andcarefully craft who we make the
face of different movements inorder for those movements to be
taken seriously.
But that's why her story and theactivism that she did kind of
gets lost in history and peoplemay not know her name or know
what she did, becauseessentially, she wasn't the
perfect victim.
It's so crazy that in so manysituations with black people
(13:40):
wanting rights, with womenwanting to not be sexually
assaulted, if you are not viewedas the perfect victim, people
will pick you apart andvillainize you and make you the
bad guy, simply because you justwant respect or you want civil
fucking rights, like oh anyway.
But, like I said, Claudette hadthis on her record, assaulting
(14:01):
a police officer.
From this arrest until 2021,she's still alive today.
Mind you, she's 88 years old.
In 2021, a federal judge inAlabama expunged her record and,
as I was doing research on her.
She's like the cutest woman inthe world, like oh, she's so
cute.
But in one of her interviews,you know, they surprised her and
(14:21):
she got to meet the judge whoexpunged her record and she was
literally like a littleschoolgirl, like she was so
giddy to meet him and so happyand you could just tell that you
know she was just tired.
She was tired of being lookedat as subhuman and felt like she
was being walked all over andshe was standing up for what she
believed in and she's just sofreaking cute.
(14:42):
But I got so emotional watchingthem meet because he was
thanking her and telling herlike I'm a product of your
activism because obviously atthe time when she was arrested
there were no black judges and60 some years later a black
federal judge in Alabama wasable to expunge her record.
She was like she started cryingand I know that it was just
(15:03):
like the most amazing fullcircle moment for her.
Like that is why I did what Idid, just for for better, for
not even myself, because at thetime again, she kind of had to
stay back from the spotlight ofit all, because if she was the
face of the movement.
You know she would have beenvillainized and they wouldn't
have been taken as seriously anddifferent things like that.
So she didn't even she did itfor her, obviously, but I think
(15:28):
she had this bigger picture ifshe was doing it for future
generations as well, and that'swhy I want to give flowers to
these people who I feel likemight have been forgotten or
less known in black history,because they genuinely did it
for us so that we could have,you know, better lives and
respect and just basic civilfucking rights, and so I just
(15:51):
wanted to bring more light toClaudette and her activism and
so that more people know hername.
As a community, it's alwaysbeen us who looks out for us,
and I'm so appreciative of thepeople who have come before me
and fought for their rights, butalso my rights, and just wanted
(16:11):
better better for forthemselves, better for future
generations and just did thework, and I'm just really
appreciative of all that theydid.
That's the reason.
I know that you know, with allthe crazy shit going on in the
world right now, with Trump andeverything, at the end of
everything, the black communityis going to be okay.
(16:31):
This is something that we'renot new to this.
We're true to this.
You know what I mean.
This is we've always had tofigure out a way to be resilient
and fight through hardships,and so I know that, at the end
of everything, black people aregoing to be okay.
We're going to figure it out,we're going to roll with the
punches and and as a community,we will be okay.
To all you other communities,y'all, stay safe thoughts and
(16:56):
prayers, tariffs as well but Ijust know that at the end of the
day, the black community isgoing to be fine, and that's why
I'm just so happy to be black.
I just love being black andliterally like thinking about it
.
Just it just makes me so happy.
I just love being black.
It's literally top tier, 10 outof 10, no notes.
I love it.
And this fuckery with DonaldTrump declaring February black
(17:21):
history month like what type ofshit are you on, bro?
Like be so fucking for real.
I saw something where he talkedabout some.
He's proclaiming black Februaryto be the national black
history month.
Like, sir, what do you thinkwe've been doing for this entire
time?
It's giving you want to takeaway, you know, our
opportunities with the rollbackof DEI.
(17:42):
Mind you, the people whobenefit most from DEI are white
women, the Latino community, theAsian community, the LGBTQIA+
community.
Like I saw this thing and itwas like seven different
communities and like the eighthcommunity that benefits from DEI
was black people.
Like they want to pretend likeit's for us.
.
(18:03):
We knew that.
You know we're not the peoplewho are benefiting the most from
DEI anyway.
But it's giving you want totake away our opportunities.
But you know, give us a month.
Mind you, we've already beencelebrating it this month.
Like please be so, fucking forreal.
Like shut the fuck up.
But I just wanted to say happyblack history month to everybody
.
Thank you, you, thank you toeveryone, past, present and
(18:27):
future, who has fought for ourrights and our liberties and our
freedoms.
And thank you to Claudette,because I'm also wondering, like
did they get the idea for theMontgomery bus boycott from her?
You know what I mean.
Or was that something that theyhad already had in mind?
I don't know, this is justspeculation, but like, maybe it
did come from her, maybe theysaw her do that and we're like,
okay, we can't use her becausethey'll villainize her and they
(18:48):
won't take her seriously, but wecan take this idea and turn it
into something you know bigger.
And thus was born Rosa Parks.
And you know the Montgomery busboycott and everything like
that.
So I don't know, justspeculation.
I I don't know if that's how ithappened, but regardless, I
just wanted to give ClaudetteColvin her flowers because she
is deserving of them and I feellike more people should know her
(19:10):
name.
I just love being black and Ilove being a woman and I love
being black woman.
Okay, I'm done talking.
I hope that this episode waseducational and helpful.
I'm really excited to bringlight to more people who may
have been forgotten or are lesswell known in black American
history.
If anyone has anyrecommendations for someone that
(19:31):
we should talk about on the podfor these next upcoming weeks,
please leave it in the comments,email it to me, DM me.
I just want to give flowers tothe people who I feel like may
have been forgotten or are lessknown, who were extremely
important in black history, andto us having the freedoms and
liberties that we do today.
So thank you, guys.
So much for tuning into today'sepisode.
(19:53):
I hope everyone's having a goodday, except for that orange
drink lady, and I will see youin the next episode.
Peace and love.
Talk to you later.
The Napkin In Between, hostedby Daijné Jones, produced by
Daijné Jones, post-production byDaijné Jones, music by Sam
Champagne and graphics by IsmaVidal.
Don't forget to like andsubscribe.
See you next episode.
Is this thing on?
Hello, hello, uh-oh, anotheryapper with a mic.
Hello everyone, and welcomeback to the Napkin In Between
Podcast.
I'm your host, Daijné Jones,how's your week been?
(00:22):
What's tea what's good.
What have you been up to?
Hope everyone has been having agreat week.
As I said in my last episode, Iwant to start doing this thing
every week, called the peak ofthe week, where we talk about
the joy that we found this pastweek, the things that made us
smile, the things that centeredus or grounded us or just helped
us remain present in the chaosof everything that is the world
(00:43):
right now.
For me, the peak of my week waswatching one of my favorite
shows, which is Scandal.
I'm re-watching Scandal.
I've seen it before.
I've watched this whole series,you know, from the beginning to
the end.
Every so often I'll pick anepisode and you know re-watch
that.
But right now I'm re-watchingthe whole series and I'm
watching it with my roommate,who has never seen it, so she's
(01:03):
watching it for the first time.
A part of me always wishes thatI could erase my memory and go
back and watch scandal for thefirst time, because it's just
such a good show and, I think,the closest that I would ever
get to.
That is watching it withsomeone who has never seen it.
Like I feel like, as we'rewatching it, I'm watching it,
but I'm like watching her watchit.
Do you know what I mean?
(01:23):
Like I'm I know what's comingup, so I'll like look at her to
see like how she reacts, ifshe's going to react how I
reacted when I first saw thatthing on Scandal and it's just
so funny.
It's like an out of bodyexperience almost watching
someone else watch one of yourfavorite shows.
And my roommate and I are verysimilar and so like she's been
reacting to things the way thatI reacted to them when I first
(01:44):
watched the show and it's justfunny to see.
It's funny to see someone elselike enjoy something that is one
of your favorite shows.
Does that make sense?
I don't know, but we justfinished season two.
Spoiler alert if you haven'tseen Scandal, I'm so sorry it's
been out for a minute.
Like that's totally on you ifyou don't know what I'm talking
about.
But we just got to the end ofseason two and she just found
out about Papa Pope, who is justfucking like one of the
(02:08):
craziest characters in the wholeseries, and so it was like when
Olivia was about to go on a runand she opened the door and all
the presses outside trying toquestion her like are you the
president's mistress, are youthe person like, you know,
whatever.
And then she gets into the limoand he's like hello, Olivia,
and she's like Dad.
The gasp that left my roommatewas so fucking funny and I
remember like the first time Iwatched a show, being in that
(02:30):
moment like I had the samevisceral reaction of just being
like jaw on the floor, flabbers,gasted, wind knocked out of me,
like the craziest thing.
But it's just so cool to watcha show with someone who has
never seen it, like watchingthem watch it.
It's just like so funny.
So that's definitely been thepeak of my week and I just love
scandal.
Shonda Rhimes is just again.
(02:51):
I just love when black womenlike just so talented and the
twists and the turns, and theone time in my life I feel like
I've ever rooted for arepublican, like what is going
on like Fitz.
Oh, I love him, I too, and itthat's like the crazy thing.
Shonda Rhimes makes you rootfor things that you would never
root for, like rooting for aRepublican, rooting for people
(03:12):
who are cheating, like notfeeling bad in the slightest for
Millie while her husband ischeating on her, like girl, like
Olivia and Fitz are dead,fucking wrong, dead fucking
wrong.
But I just I, I love them and Ineed to see them together and I
need to see them making jam andmoving to Vermont and it's just
like this man is married, butlike I don't care, like that's
(03:35):
crazy.
Scandal's a great show.
If you haven't seen it, you'remissing out.
You need to go see it.
But that's just been.
The peak of my week of just isjust re-watching scandal and
watching it with my roommate.
Another peak of my week, bitch,its Black History Month.
I love being black.
I love being black.
I don't know what happens afteryou die, but if you, if you
(03:57):
come back, if reincarnation isreal in every single life, I
want to be a black woman.
Top tier, 10 out of out of 10,no notes.
God really took his time.
God has favorites and hisfavorite is a black woman.
God is a black woman Like, oh,I just love being black, I love
being a woman.
I love being a black woman,like it's just everything and
(04:19):
more to me.
Honestly, I don't know.
I just love being black.
I love it all.
I love everything about it.
Happy black history month to my92 percent and to my 80 percent
and to my 92 percent 80 percentonly if you know.
You know, but I wanted to do aspecial thing for every episode
for February, and actually oneof these episodes is gonna go
(04:40):
into March because I didn't planit how I should have and so
last week's episode came out inFebruary.
I just didn't realize that itwas already February.
I feel like January wasextremely long, it was dragging
and so like I didn't realizethat it was finally fucking
February, like shit.
Why was January 3,000 yearslong For February,
And what we're gonna talk abouttoday, we are gonna talk about
(05:01):
someone who I feel is a pivotalperson in black history, but not
only a pivotal person, someonewho I feel like is a little bit
forgotten or lost or you guysmight not know a lot about.
There are so many people whoare pivotal parts of black
history that I feel like not alot of us know about, and it's
people that I'm also learningabout right now because I didn't
even know about them.
(05:21):
So the first person I want totalk about is Claudette Colvin.
Claudette Colvin was a teenagerin Montgomery, Alabama, who was
arrested for refusing to giveup her seat, nine months before
Rosa Parks was arrested for theexact same thing refusing to
give up her seat.
So on March 2nd 1955, Claudettewas coming home from public
school.
She was in a segregated schoolin Alabama it was the Booker T
(05:44):
Washington School, and she wouldtake public transportation to
and from school because herfamily didn't have a car.
So she gets on the bus cominghome from school with three
classmates and they're sittingin the colored only part of the
bus, because in that time in thesouth Jim Crow Laws and
segregation, there were whiteonly and colors only.
You know, know, drinkingfountains, restaurants, public
(06:05):
places like that, and then onthe bus there was a white only
section and a coloreds onlysection where obviously the
white people sat in the front.
Something that I didn't know isthat bus drivers had the
ability to move the whites onlysign on buses, and so If the
section that was deemed whitesonly was full and other white
(06:26):
people got on the bus, then thebus driver could move the sign
back and then make part of whatwould be the colors only part of
the bus.
It now would be for whitepeople to sit down as well.
So a white woman gets on thebus, all the seats in the white
only section are already full,and so the bus driver moves the
sign back and is like OK, you,you four, Claudette and um,
(06:47):
three of her classmates.
They were like you four need toto move.
And so her three classmatesimmediately, you know, agreed
they get up and they, they movedback.
Claudette sat in her seat and atthe time that she had decided
to sit in her seat, she was alsoin school.
They were learning about thecivil rights movement and black
history, and so in an interviewyears later, when they were
(07:08):
talking about the situation, youknow, Claudette said that she
felt like she had Harriet Tubmanpushing down on one side of her
shoulder and then SojournerTruth was pushing down the other
shoulder, and she said that shefelt like she was glued in her
seat and she could not movebecause history was keeping her
seated, and so she refuses togive up her seat and the bus
driver is like why aren't youmoving?
(07:30):
Like this woman wants to sitdown.
And and the thing was the rowthat they were sitting in.
The woman could have sat down,but she would have been sitting
in the same row as Claudette.
And she didn't want to do thatbecause at the time, if you were
seated in the same row as ablack person, it meant that
y'all were on the same level.
And in the South, even stilltoday I don't know why I'm
(07:51):
speaking as though this is likenot a thing anymore white people
will view themselves assuperior to black people and
other people of color.
And so she didn't wanna sit inthe row with Claudette.
She wanted Claudette to get upand move so that she was not on
the same level.
So much for separate but equalright any fucking way.
So Claudette's refusing to move.
She's like I'm not giving up myseat.
(08:11):
She says it's a violation ofher constitutional rights.
When the bus driver asks herwhy she won't move, she just
says it's a violation of myconstitutional rights, I'm not
moving.
And so the bus driver's likewell, if you don't move, you
know I'm going to call thepolice.
And Claudette said call thepo-po-ho.
Like I don't give a fuck, I'mparaphrasing.
Obviously she didn't say that,but she was like okay, call the
police then.
So bus driver calls the policeand as she's being handcuffed
(08:33):
and dragged off the bus and, youknow, put in the police car,
she's just continuing to say,like this is a violation of my
constitutional rights, this is aviolation of my constitutional
rights.
So on the ride down to thepolice station the officers were
sexually harassing Claudettewhile she was in the police car.
(08:54):
They're making comments abouther body, you know, trying to
guess her her bra size.
She even said that you know,one of the officers sat in the
back of the police car with her,which really scared her because
she was worried that she wouldbe sexually assaulted.
And so they take her to jailand she is charged with
disorderly conduct, violatingsegregation laws and assaulting
a police officer.
They also said that during thearrest she was like clawing at
them and kicking them, whichnone of that happened.
(09:17):
They were just tacking oncharges because she refused to
give up her seat.
A minister from her churchbails her out and she's put on
trial.
She's represented by Fred Gray,who was a well-known um civil
rights lawyer at the time, andshe is found guilty of all three
charges.
There was an appeal to her casea couple months later, in May
of 1955 and two of her chargesthe disorderly conduct and
(09:39):
violating segregation laws.
Those two charges were droppedbut the assaulting a police
officer still stood and she hadthat on her record until 2021
when a federal judge in Alabamaexpunged her record.
So if you're like me, you'rekind of wondering like why is
her story not as widely known ortold?
Why don't we learn about her?
(10:00):
In you know the civil rightsmovement?
And ultimately it came down toher not being an appealing
protester.
Claudette refusing to give upher seat wasn't like a random
act or just something that shehad decided to do that day.
She wanted to get into activism.
She, like I said, was learningabout you know black history and
the civil rights movement inschool and she had hopes to one
(10:21):
day be president of the UnitedStates and she wanted to get
into activism.
One of the things that reallyignited her fire of wanting to
get into activism was the caseof Jeremiah Reeves.
If you're unfamiliar with thatcase, it was a 16 year old boy
who was accused of raping awhite woman.
He held that it was consensualsex between him and this woman.
(10:42):
They were caught having sex.
The white woman cried rape.
He was tried and executed forraping a white woman.
The case of Jeremiah Rueeveswas in 1952.
And so Claudette had beenlearning about the case and
following it and that's kind ofwhat ignited her fire to want to
be an activist for civil rights.
But ultimately she was not seenas an appealing protester.
You know, civil rights leadershad to carefully pick who they
(11:06):
made the face of their protestsin order to be taken seriously.
And Claudette was a teenager,she was dark-skinned, she didn't
have quote-unquote good hairand she was pregnant.
And so if they would have madeher the face of the Montgomery
bus boycott, they would haveripped her to shreds they
meaning white people they wouldhave not taken her seriously,
they would have vilified her,which I'm sure they still did
(11:28):
with Rosa Parks, you know, eventhough she fit the mold more
than Claudette.
I'm sure they did the exactsame thing to Rosa Parks.
But for a girl like Claudette, ateenager, dark-skinned,
quote-unquote unruly, not goodhair and pregnant, had she been
the face of the Montgomery busboycott, you know, they just
would not have even given it thetime of day, they wouldn't have
paid the attention to it thatthey did when Rosa Parks was the
(11:51):
face of it, and even in aninterview.
You know, because nine monthsafter Claudette refused to give
up her seat is when Rosa Parksended up refusing to give up her
seat, and in an interviewClaudette said that her mom told
her to just let Rosa Parks haveit, to let Rosa Parks be the
face of the movement, becausethe way that Claudette's mom
explained it to her is thatwhite people already liked Rosa
(12:11):
Parks.
She was the secretary of thecity's chapter of the NAACP.
She was fair-skinned, she hadquote-unquote good hair.
You know she was this womanthat they had essentially given
some respect to.
Obviously she's still a blackwoman, so the respect was very
slim, but she was in a morerespected position than
Claudette and like.
Thinking about that makes myfucking blood boil.
(12:34):
Like all black people wantedwas to be treated with respect
and to not be like demeaned orlook like, looked at as less
than or just want to justrespect.
You know what I mean.
Even today, we thought we haveto pick and choose who we make
the face of things, because ifyou don't fit you know this
certain criteria, they're notgoing to give you the time of
day, they're not going to listento you or you know anything.
(12:56):
It's just the most ridiculousthing, and so you know Claudette
says that.
You know she doesn't feelslighted in any way.
She like, understands, and shefeels like what Rosa Parks did
still helped.
So at the end of the day, it'slike we got to where we wanted
to be, but it's just like it'sdisgusting that.
You know we even have to dothat.
(13:16):
We have to pick and choose andcarefully craft who we make the
face of different movements inorder for those movements to be
taken seriously.
But that's why her story and theactivism that she did kind of
gets lost in history and peoplemay not know her name or know
what she did, becauseessentially, she wasn't the
perfect victim.
It's so crazy that in so manysituations with black people
(13:40):
wanting rights, with womenwanting to not be sexually
assaulted, if you are not viewedas the perfect victim, people
will pick you apart andvillainize you and make you the
bad guy, simply because you justwant respect or you want civil
fucking rights, like oh anyway.
But, like I said, Claudette hadthis on her record, assaulting
(14:01):
a police officer.
From this arrest until 2021,she's still alive today.
Mind you, she's 88 years old.
In 2021, a federal judge inAlabama expunged her record and,
as I was doing research on her.
She's like the cutest woman inthe world, like oh, she's so
cute.
But in one of her interviews,you know, they surprised her and
(14:21):
she got to meet the judge whoexpunged her record and she was
literally like a littleschoolgirl, like she was so
giddy to meet him and so happyand you could just tell that you
know she was just tired.
She was tired of being lookedat as subhuman and felt like she
was being walked all over andshe was standing up for what she
believed in and she's just sofreaking cute.
(14:42):
But I got so emotional watchingthem meet because he was
thanking her and telling herlike I'm a product of your
activism because obviously atthe time when she was arrested
there were no black judges and60 some years later a black
federal judge in Alabama wasable to expunge her record.
She was like she started cryingand I know that it was just
(15:03):
like the most amazing fullcircle moment for her.
Like that is why I did what Idid, just for for better, for
not even myself, because at thetime again, she kind of had to
stay back from the spotlight ofit all, because if she was the
face of the movement.
You know she would have beenvillainized and they wouldn't
have been taken as seriously anddifferent things like that.
So she didn't even she did itfor her, obviously, but I think
(15:28):
she had this bigger picture ifshe was doing it for future
generations as well, and that'swhy I want to give flowers to
these people who I feel likemight have been forgotten or
less known in black history,because they genuinely did it
for us so that we could have,you know, better lives and
respect and just basic civilfucking rights, and so I just
(15:51):
wanted to bring more light toClaudette and her activism and
so that more people know hername.
As a community, it's alwaysbeen us who looks out for us,
and I'm so appreciative of thepeople who have come before me
and fought for their rights, butalso my rights, and just wanted
(16:11):
better better for forthemselves, better for future
generations and just did thework, and I'm just really
appreciative of all that theydid.
That's the reason.
I know that you know, with allthe crazy shit going on in the
world right now, with Trump andeverything, at the end of
everything, the black communityis going to be okay.
(16:31):
This is something that we'renot new to this.
We're true to this.
You know what I mean.
This is we've always had tofigure out a way to be resilient
and fight through hardships,and so I know that, at the end
of everything, black people aregoing to be okay.
We're going to figure it out,we're going to roll with the
punches and and as a community,we will be okay.
To all you other communities,y'all, stay safe thoughts and
(16:56):
prayers, tariffs as well but Ijust know that at the end of the
day, the black community isgoing to be fine, and that's why
I'm just so happy to be black.
I just love being black andliterally like thinking about it
.
Just it just makes me so happy.
I just love being black.
It's literally top tier, 10 outof 10, no notes.
I love it.
And this fuckery with DonaldTrump declaring February black
(17:21):
history month like what type ofshit are you on, bro?
Like be so fucking for real.
I saw something where he talkedabout some.
He's proclaiming black Februaryto be the national black
history month.
Like, sir, what do you thinkwe've been doing for this entire
time?
It's giving you want to takeaway, you know, our
opportunities with the rollbackof DEI.
(17:42):
Mind you, the people whobenefit most from DEI are white
women, the Latino community, theAsian community, the LGBTQIA+
community.
Like I saw this thing and itwas like seven different
communities and like the eighthcommunity that benefits from DEI
was black people.
Like they want to pretend likeit's for us.
.
(18:03):
We knew that.
You know we're not the peoplewho are benefiting the most from
DEI anyway.
But it's giving you want totake away our opportunities.
But you know, give us a month.
Mind you, we've already beencelebrating it this month.
Like please be so, fucking forreal.
Like shut the fuck up.
But I just wanted to say happyblack history month to everybody
.
Thank you, you, thank you toeveryone, past, present and
(18:27):
future, who has fought for ourrights and our liberties and our
freedoms.
And thank you to Claudette,because I'm also wondering, like
did they get the idea for theMontgomery bus boycott from her?
You know what I mean.
Or was that something that theyhad already had in mind?
I don't know, this is justspeculation, but like, maybe it
did come from her, maybe theysaw her do that and we're like,
okay, we can't use her becausethey'll villainize her and they
(18:48):
won't take her seriously, but wecan take this idea and turn it
into something you know bigger.
And thus was born Rosa Parks.
And you know the Montgomery busboycott and everything like
that.
So I don't know, justspeculation.
I I don't know if that's how ithappened, but regardless, I
just wanted to give ClaudetteColvin her flowers because she
is deserving of them and I feellike more people should know her
(19:10):
name.
I just love being black and Ilove being a woman and I love
being black woman.
Okay, I'm done talking.
I hope that this episode waseducational and helpful.
I'm really excited to bringlight to more people who may
have been forgotten or are lesswell known in black American
history.
If anyone has anyrecommendations for someone that
(19:31):
we should talk about on the podfor these next upcoming weeks,
please leave it in the comments,email it to me, DM me.
I just want to give flowers tothe people who I feel like may
have been forgotten or are lessknown, who were extremely
important in black history, andto us having the freedoms and
liberties that we do today.
So thank you, guys.
So much for tuning into today'sepisode.
(19:53):
I hope everyone's having a goodday, except for that orange
drink lady, and I will see youin the next episode.
Peace and love.
Talk to you later.
The Napkin In Between, hostedby Daijné Jones, produced by
Daijné Jones, post-production byDaijné Jones, music by Sam
Champagne and graphics by IsmaVidal.
Don't forget to like andsubscribe.
See you next episode.
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