Civil rights hero Claudette Colvin files to have her record expunged
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Montgomery, Alabama, is ready to do the right thing. For starters, the city finally renamed Jefferson Davis Avenue on Tuesday. Mayor Steven Reed, who is Montgomery’s first Black mayor, was on hand to celebrate the street now named after FredCivil rights hero Claudette Colvin files to have her record expunged
Montgomery, Alabama, is ready to do the right thing. For starters, the city finally renamed Jefferson Davis Avenue on Tuesday. Mayor Steven Reed, who is Montgomery’s first Black mayor, was on hand to celebrate the street now named after Fred. D. Gray, the legendary civil rights lawyer who worked directly with Martin Luther King Jr. and E.D. Nixon, representing leaders like Rosa Parks and King. Shortly after the street dedication, Gray joined a former client as well as city and state leaders in front of the Montgomery juvenile courthouse. The reason? Claudette Colvin, who Gray represented in 1955 for refusing to give up her seat on a bus, was trying to get her record expunged. “I’m happy for what the city is doing,” Gray said in reference to support from Reed, Montgomery city council, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s office, and state lawmakers like Rep. Merika Coleman, who lauded Colvin for activism. “She sat so I could stand. She sat so we could stand,” Coleman said. Read more