HAMM WILL ATTEND FUNERAL OF CIVIL RIGHTS PIONEER CLAUDETTE COLVIN

Lawrence Hamm, Chairman, People’s Organization For Progress (POP) will attend funeral services for civil rights pioneer Claudette Colvin this weekend.

Ms Colvin was arrested on March 2, 1955 in Montgomery, Alabama, at the age of 15, for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus to a white woman. This occurred nine months before the arrest of Rosa Parks.

The arrest of Colvin would lead to her becoming a plaintiff in the lawsuit that ultimately came before the United States Supreme. The court ruled in that case that bus segregation was unconstitutional.

Colvin died from natural causes in Texas on January 13, 2026 at the age of 86. Her passing has drawn national attention to the important role she played and the impact of her case in the Civil Rights Movement.

“It was with great sadness that the news of Claudette Colvin’s death was received. She was a trail blazer in the Civil Rights Movement and the struggle for black liberation,” Hamm, who is also a former U.S. Senate candidate, stated.

“I am attending her funeral services not only due to my personal respect for Ms Colvin, but I have been asked to do so on behalf of the members of the People’s Organization For Progress because of our collective admiration for her courage and sacrifice” he said.

“Myself and members of the People’s Organization For Progress were particularly impacted by her death not just because she was a historical figure but also because we got to know her personally,” he said.

“More that a dozen years ago we learned about Ms Colvin’s contribution to our freedom struggle through discussions about her life on WBAI, a progressive radio station in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area,” Hamm said. “We were able contact Ms Colvin and arrange for her to speak and tell her story at churches, radio stations, and other venues in our region. In this way we got to know her better and she go to know us,” he said.

“Everywhere she spoke she was well received. People were inspired by her story. Some were brought to tears. They were honored to have this civil rights heroine among them,” he said.

Hamm said he would never forget the first time he heard her response to the question of why she refused to give up her seat knowing she was breaking the segregationist law and would go to jail.

“She said I couldn’t get up because I had Harriet Tubman sitting on one shoulder and Sojourner Truth sitting on the other,” he said.

The viewing will be held on Friday, January 23rd, 1:00pm-7:00pm at the Bushelon Funeral Home, 800 14th St. SW, in Birmingham, Alabama. The Funeral Service is on Saturday, January 24th, 11:00 a.m. at Greater Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church, 2135 Jefferson Ave SW, also in Birmingham.

“Our freedom fighter Claudette Colvin has joined the ancestors. However, her contribution to the fight for racial equality and justice will not be forgotten. It will inspire generations to come,” Hamm said. For more information contact the People’s Organization For Progress at (973)801-0001.