title
A resolution honoring the 60th Anniversary of the Freedom Riders.
body
WHEREAS, this year marks the 60th anniversary of the Freedom Riders, a group of civil rights activists who rode buses to challenge segregation across the southern United States; and
WHEREAS, the Freedom Riders included John Lewis, Diane Nash, C.T. Vivian, Rev. James Lawson, James Farmer, Bernard Lafayette, James Bevel, William Harbour, Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, and James Zwerg, among many others; and
WHEREAS, the first Freedom Riders left Washington, D.C. on May 4, 1961. Activists boarded a Greyhound bus headed across the South, scheduled to end at a civil rights rally in New Orleans, Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, the Freedom Riders were a diverse group of volunteers and activists, from different states, socio-economic classes, and racial backgrounds. Many of the Freedom Riders were sponsored by Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC); and
WHERAS, the Freedom Riders' Greyhound bus was firebombed in Anniston, Alabama, while another group of that first wave of riders was attacked in Birmingham, Alabama; and
WHEREAS, despite the incredible violence the Riders encountered, they intended to continue their journey. However, when they arrived at their bus terminal, drivers refused to take the Freedom Riders anywhere. The Riders were able to take a flight from Birmingham to New Orleans. Despite the danger the Riders faced, they recognized that their efforts achieved their purpose of calling attention to the cause of civil rights; and
WHEREAS, in Nashville, Diane Nash, a student at Fisk University, sought to continue the Freedom Rides and pushed to find replacements. On May 17, ten students involved in the Nashville Student Movement took a bus to Birmingham, and were soon arrested and taken back to the Tennessee state line; and
WHEREAS, despite this, they continued their ride. A total of 22 students, 21 from Nashville, returned to Birmingham,...
Click here for full text