[Peace] Freedom Riders

[Alfred Kagan]

To test President Kennedy's commitment to civil rights, the Congress 
of Racial Equality proposed a "Freedom Ride." The strategy: an 
interracial group would board buses destined for the South. The 
whites would sit in the back and the blacks in the front. At rest 
stops, the whites would go into blacks-only areas and vice versa.
The Freedom Ride left Washington DC on May 4, 1961. It was scheduled 
to arrive in New Orleans on May 17, the seventh anniversary of the 
Brown decision. The Freedom Riders never made it to New Orleans. Many 
spent their summer in jail. Some were scarred for life from the 
beatings they received. But their efforts were not in vain. They 
forced the Kennedy administration to take a stand on civil rights, 
which was the intent of the Freedom Ride in the first place. The 
Freedom Riders may not have finished their trip, but they made an 
important and lasting contribution to the civil rights movement.

The Project 500 Reunion Committee
And
The Brown v Board Commemoration Committee
Present

Dialogues with Original Freedom Riders

Rev. Ben Cox, Hank Thomas and Ed Blankenheim share their experiences 
as three of the original 13 Freedom Riders who made this historic 
trip that sought to desegregate public transportation, public 
restrooms, waiting rooms, and restaurants.

Saturday, October 18	7:30 pm
Lincoln Hall Auditorium

Open to the Public



"When we began the ride I think all of us were prepared
for as much violence as could be thrown at us.
We were prepared for the possibility of death."
James Farmer, director
Congress of Racial Equality (CORE)


-- 


Al Kagan
African Studies Bibliographer and Professor of Library Administration
Africana Unit, Room 328
University of Illinois Library
1408 W. Gregory Drive
Urbana, IL 61801, USA

tel. 217-333-6519
fax. 217-333-2214
e-mail. akagan at uiuc.edu
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://lists.chambana.net/mailman/archive/peace/attachments/20031014/826a89bc/attachment.htm