December 16, 2021
Associated Press
“A judge has approved a request to wipe clean the court record of a Black woman who was arrested for refusing to move to the back of a segregated Alabama bus in 1955, months before Rosa Parks gained international fame for doing the same.
“A judge granted the request by Claudette Colvin, now 82, in a brief court order made public Thursday by a family representative.
“…’I am an old woman now. Having my records expunged will mean something to my grandchildren and great grandchildren. And it will mean something for other Black children,’ Colvin said at the time in a sworn statement.
“Now that Juvenile Court Judge Calvin L. Williams has approved the request, Colvin said in a statement that she wants ‘us to move forward and be better.’
” ‘When I think about why I’m seeking to have my name cleared by the state, it is because I believe if that happened it would show the generation growing up now that progress is possible, and things do get better. It will inspire them to make the world better,’ she said.”
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