Rosa Parks was a great symbol of the struggle of the black population for civil rights, as we already know, Rosa refused to leave the chair where she was sitting on the bus, for a white person to sit. Although Parks' act was important, another black woman did it before her, Claudette Colvin.
Claudette Colvin, refused to get up from the bus seat nine months before Rosa Parks did the same thing. This happened when Claudette Colvin was a teenager and was coming home from school. The event caused Claudette to be removed from the bus in handcuffs, without even the right to keep her school books. However, Claudette Colvin is not mentioned as a symbol of resistance, it does not appear in history books and is not even mentioned by teachers.
This "forgetfulness," happened for several reasons. First, she didn't tell many people about what happened, but the main reason was that the leaders of the black movement believed that Rosa Parks would be a better symbol than Claudette Colvin. That's because Rosa Parks had a more attractive appearance and represented a middle class woman. Claudette Colvin, on the other hand, was a teenager and became pregnant after the event, being considered a bad example. The leaders of the civil rights movement believed that Claudette Colvin's image and history was not appealing and representative and because of this movement, made her experience something that should not be mentioned.
Based on this, we can consider that Claudette Colvin suffered a strong intolerance even within her community, but it is not too late for her to be cited and to have her relevance recognized.