And to an extent, I understand why this sentiment resonates for both of them. Shaboozey’s family immigrated from Nigeria; Mamdani immigrated from Uganda. It makes sense that they champion the labor of immigrants in the United States—it is, after all, part of their history and lineage.

However… it continues to shock me how people react when this narrative is corrected: the United States of America was not built by immigrants, but on the forced enslavement of Black people. Our blood, sweat, and tears are literally engraved in this land. And no—our ancestors cannot be grouped with immigrants. To give them that title would imply they came here willingly to settle. Yet there are countless primary sources, both oral and written, from enslaved people who dreamed of returning to their homeland. It’s why we have folklore about Igbo people growing wings and flying back to the motherland. It’s why we studied and memorized the stars—not only as a map to freedom, but because I imagine they looked up and thought of the people who were free, gazing at those same stars. It’s why so many of our ancestors risked life and limb to run with Harriet, cross the Ohio River, or board ships as stowaways. Some chose death itself as an escape from the horrors of enslavement.

I’m tired of seeing dismissive comments like this whenever this truth is centered.

Especially when many of us feel the same.

Because immigrants did not build this country. They helped develop what our ancestors laid the groundwork for—and that is the reality. We can exist in two truths without fully erasing one of them.

Read these books to..

Dream: “The People Could Fly” Told By: Virginia Hamilton

Learn: “Barracoon: The Story of the Last “Black Cargo” By: Zora Neale Hurston

Venerate: “Ancestor Paths: Honoring Our Ancestors and Guardian Spirits Through Prayers, Rituals, and Offerings” By: Aladokun

Rest in peace, Claudette Colvin. I remember the first time I learned your story. I had come across an article with a title along the lines of “Before Rosa Parks, there was another… Meet Claudette Colvin.” Intrigued, I devoured the story, and when I finished, I felt a deep sadness. How could her story have been so separated from the clear influence she had on the action that would, in turn, “spark” the Montgomery Bus Boycott? Many will fault the respectability politics surrounding Colvin’s identity as the reason behind her erasure. She was a dark-skinned 15-year-old who lived in the projects; that didn’t fit into the box of a Civil Rights organizer. Teenagers weren’t trusted to be the face of the movement because they were “unreliable” and “erratic”. However, NAACP secretary and leader of the NAACP’s youth sector, Rosa Parks, saw something more in Colvin.

You see the framing of Parks as the first woman to refuse to give up her seat on a segregated bus not only erases the courage of Colvin but also the connection between community learning, inspiration, and the meticulous planning that goes into creating successful movements of resistance.

Colvin’s actions on March 2, 1955, took place during Negro History Week. She had spent her day at school learning about the ancestors who paved the way before, Harriet Tubman and Sojourner Truth. On the way home with her friends, she was asked to give up her seat for several white passengers on the bus. She did not budge. She would later say, “I felt like Sojourner Truth was pushing down on one shoulder and Harriet Tubman was pushing down on the other, saying, ‘Sit down, girl!’ I was glued to my seat.”

She was forced off the bus and imprisoned. Community outrage followed shortly after, and while, in the long run, she would not be chosen to be the “face” of the movement, Parks saw Colvin for who she was: a passionate, brave, and bright young woman who let the spirit of her ancestors guide her without fear of the consequences. A political disruptor whose influence would be needed to connect and inspire other youth. Parks took Claudette under her wing. She encouraged her participation in the NAACP youth council and later appointed her secretary. She would also have Colvin tell the story of why she refused to give up her seat and the impact of her arrest, to the end that she was sure her comrades were tired of hearing it. Parks understood the impact Colvin’s courage could have on her counterparts and also wanted to nurture Colvin’s spirit as an organizer. Parks was with Colvin every step of the way, through her arrest, her trial, and the distress of the scandal that would be Colvin’s teen pregnancy.

While Parks has never directly said that Colvin’s actions would later influence the meticulous actions that launched the Montgomery Bus Boycott, it can be inferred that her resistance was a perfect example of defiance that garnered the attention and demand that led to the boycott’s success. While Colvin would not receive justice for her initial 1955 arrest, she would receive some reprieve in June of 1956, with the ruling in Browder v. Gayle, in which she was a plaintiff. The ruling led to the immediate integration of Montgomery buses, although enforcement would not begin until December that same year. Another act of bravery and resistance that would be overshadowed by the pursuit of the first story.

Colvin would move to New York in 1958 to begin a new life and seemingly leave behind the life she led in Alabama. Her legacy began to resurface in the early 2000s as people began studying the Civil Rights Movement. Her story would be immortalized in the biography “Twice Forward” written by Phillip Hoose. Claudette Colvin passed on January 13, 2026, at 86 in Texas.

Revisiting her story makes it clear that her impact on the Montgomery Bus Boycott Movement was monumental. This excerpt from “Twice Forward” proves as much.

“I felt proud. I had stood up for our rights. I had done something a lot of adults hadn’t done. On the ride home from jail, coming over the viaduct, Reverend Johnson had said something to me I’ll never forget. He was an adult who everyone respected, and his opinion meant a lot to me. “Claudette,” he said, “I’m so proud of you. Everyone prays for freedom. We’ve all been praying and praying. But you’re different—you want your answer the next morning. And I think you just brought the revolution to Montgomery.”

But somewhere in the back of my mind, I cannot help but notice sinister individualism in political movements that thrust Rosa Parks to the forefront and pushed Claudette Colvin to the background. We, as a collective, are responsible for the framing of the public narrative of historic events. What happens when we don’t frame Parks and Colvin in opposition, but as a reminder that liberation is never achieved without intergenerational solidarity and support. Because the reality is, Colvin was not the first to refuse to move for a white person on the bus. The Montgomery Bus Boycott was not the first major boycott to desegregate buses. To position any of these actions as more notable than the other is to erase the stream of resistance that has occurred since our ancestors were brought here on ships. It is to erase the informed and strategic planning that goes into creating, researching, collaborating, leading, funding, marketing, and dedication that goes into successful campaigns in the fight for freedom. It is also us not saying the quiet part out loud; that Black women were the backbone of these movements, a contribution that is always overshadowed in histories of Black resistance.