The Resume

(September 5, 1939- )
Born in Alabama
Arrested in Montgomery, Alabama, for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger (March 2, 1955)
Preceded the arrest of Rosa Parks by nine months

Why she might be annoying:

Although she came first, she was overshadowed by Rosa Parks.
In addition to violating the bus segregation laws, she was charged with disorderly conduct and assault.
The leadership of Montgomery's black community decided not to publicize her case after she became pregnant while unmarried and a teen.

Why she might not be annoying:

The bus driver ordered her to give up her seat for a white woman even though there were two empty seats across the aisle: 'If she sat down in the same row as me, it meant I was as good as her.'
She had been studying black history in school during the days before the arrest and said, '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.'
During the arrest, an officer kicked her, and on the way to the station the police joked about her bra size.
She was one of the plaintiffs in the class action suit, Browder v. Gayle, that led the Supreme Court to rule that bus segregation was unconstitutional (December, 1956).
Civil rights attorney Fred Gray said, 'Claudette gave all of us moral courage. If she had not done what she did, I am not sure we would have been able to mount the support for Mrs. Parks.'

Credit: C. Fishel

Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

• C. Fishel's Profiles [Series 38]
• Celebrities Born on the Same Date [September] (Ranked: 9051939)
• Civil Rights Activists
• I Mothered Children Out of Wedlock
• I Outlived My Child
• Look at My Book Cover
• Nurses
• Profiles 31751-32000 (Ranked: 31811)
• Sweet Home Alabama
• The My Hero Project
• Time’s 100 Women of the Year [1920-2020] (Ranked: 1955)
• Young Moms [I Had a Child Before Turning 21]

Year In Review:

For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2023, Out of 7 Votes: 85.71% Annoying
In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
In 2021, Out of 9 Votes: 55.56% Annoying
In 2020, Out of 5 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
In 2019, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
In 2018, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
In 2017, Out of 5 Votes: 60.0% Annoying
In 2016, Out of 15 Votes: 46.67% Annoying
In 2015, Out of 26 Votes: 15.38% Annoying
In 2014, Out of 24 Votes: 54.17% Annoying
In 2013, Out of 58 Votes: 67.24% Annoying
In 2012, Out of 19 Votes: 63.16% Annoying
In 2011, Out of 21 Votes: 66.67% Annoying