When Sam Allison takes charge at Sheffield United on Boxing Day, remember the names of Joel Mannix and Aji AjibolaMany people know that on Thursday 1 December 1955 a woman called Rosa Parks changed the course of the American...
When Sam Allison takes charge at Sheffield United on Boxing Day, remember the names of Joel Mannix and Aji Ajibola
Many people know that on Thursday 1 December 1955 a woman called Rosa Parks changed the course of the American civil rights movement and wrote her place in history when she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus so that white passengers could sit down.
Her act of courage sparked a bus boycott by the local Black community and turned Martin Luther King into a household name. Very few people, however, know the name of Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old girl who did the same thing nine months earlier and perhaps, given her tender age, demonstrated even greater courage. The reason is that Colvin became pregnant very soon after the incident and was therefore deemed an unsuitable role model to be the catalyst for such an important movement. So, while Parks is quite rightly remembered for her courage, Colvin’s brave act goes largely unremembered.
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