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| Dr. Clarence Taylor |
During the summer of 2011, I had the opportunity and honor of attending
a Gilder Lehrman
Teacher Seminar in New York City taught by Dr. Clarence Taylor. The purpose of the seminar was to examine the
origins of the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) and Black Power Movement (BPM) and
their impact on American society. Little
did I know that this seminar would lead to meeting Civil Rights royalty!
The lectures, day trips, and
personal excursions led to many thought-provoking conversations among members
of our cohort. Of course, the best and
sometimes heated discussions took place as we enjoyed our time together eating
meals, hanging out in Washington Square, riding the subway, and lounging in the
dorms at NYU.
One day as we were discussing the “classic narrative of Rosa Parks,” I
exclaimed to my lunch companions, “This afternoon I am going to find and visit
Claudette Colvin.”
They asked, “Who is Claudette Colvin?”
After a “brief” explanation, I got reactions ranging from, “You are
crazy,” and “You are wasting your time” to “Can I go with?” and “I can help you
get there.”
So off we went (5 of us) to find Claudette
Colvin. After a hopeful 45 minute subway
ride (where we discussed our “strategy” and rehearsed questions we would ask)
and a 15 minute walk to Miss Colvin’s building, we anxiously stood in front of
the security camera and buzzed what we believed was her apartment number.
“Is this her?” and “Will she talk to us?” were the nervous questions we
asked each other. Buzzing. Buzzing. “Hello, who is it?” asked a surprised and
tired sounding voice. Obviously, she
wasn’t elated that 5 strangers had arrived at her building.
Ashley and Sheila revealed the
reason for our unexpected visit. “Miss
Colvin, we are a group of teachers from around the country in New York to study
the Civil Rights Movement, and we would really like to talk to you about your
experience.”
“Not today, maybe another day,” a reluctant voice responded.
I then explained, “Miss Colvin, this is our only opportunity.” I quickly
repeated much of the history of Claudette Colvin, my travels and experiences in
Montgomery, my wife’s family connection from nearby Evergreen, and “what a dream this was just to
be speaking with her.” I don’t think she
believed we were teachers legitimately hoping to talk with her.
Then, shockingly she stated, “O.K. you can come up but only for 5
minutes.”
The 11 story elevator ride was filled with exhilaration, trepidation,
and the wonderful smells of ethnic cooking permeating throughout the elevator
shaft. We anxiously arrived at Miss
Colvin’s door and knocked. She opened the locked door just a crack and quietly said, “Not today,
today’s not a good day, I’ve been resting and my place is a mess.” At this point we all began pleading, trying to convince her just to
answer a few questions “for our students.”
She was apprehensive and asked for a few minutes to brush her hair. She reluctantly returned and invited
us into her home. The 5 minutes turned
into an hour!
We
were
entertained with Claudette’s wide ranging stories, memories, and photographs of
growing up in Montgomery, the love she had for her father (family), her school
days, her love of football, her tremendous anger and bewilderment about the Jim
Crow south, racism within the African-American community, her move to New York
City, her work in a Jewish Nursing Home, her friendships with all types of
people, some of her favorite Hollywood movies,
and
her grandson
(a Washington University Medical School graduate working as a doctor in Chicago). Miss Colvin even gave autographed copies of
her book to several members of our group.
Toward the end of our visit, we asked her what advice she would like to
share with our students from her experiences.
She advised us to urge our students to be proud of who they are, stand
up for what they believe, work hard in school, and
take advantage
of the opportunities provided today that she didn’t have. She ended with guarded optimism
that America would get better if we, “Continue to fight for
Civil Rights.”
