Freedom Riders - May 4, 1961 - 50 Years Later

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the first Freedom Ride. It was a bus ride that left Washington, D.C. on May 4, 1961, and was scheduled to arrive in New Orleans on May 17, 1961, for a commemorative rally. The Freedom Riders were young civil rights activists who wanted to ensure equality met them at every stop from North to South. Jim Crow laws had been renounced by the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) in the landmark case Sarah Keys v. Carolina Coach Company (1955) which banned the "separate but equal" laws in regard to interstate bus travel. This meant that restaurants, waiting rooms, and restrooms in bus terminals could not enforce racial segregation on interstate buses and routes...ensuring consistency in laws from North to South for travelers of all races. Five years later, in 1960, in the case Boynton v. Virginia, the Supreme Court decided that racial segregation on ALL of the various forms of public transportation was illegal under the Interstate Commerce Act. Discrimination and segregation was forbidden in interstate passenger transportation. So, the following year, these rulings were put to the test to see if they were being enforced throughout the country.

A bloody John Lewis

The first Freedom Ride bus took a route through Virgina, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi to get to New Orleans. There were 13 riders--7 Black, 6 White. Several were arrested in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Mississippi. One of the 7 Black riders was 21-year-old John Lewis (now a U.S. Representative for Georgia's 5th District). In South Carolina, he encountered his first of several beatings to come over the course of the Movement.

On Mother's Day, May 14, 1961, several KKK police officials in Alabama, organized attacks on the buses. When the Greyhound bus rolled into Anniston, a mob--some still in their church attire--attacked the first bus. They slashed the tires, forcing the bus to stop. They then threw a firebomb into the bus and held the doors shut to burn the passengers alive. When the gas tank exploded in the rear of the bus, the mob scattered, allowing the passengers to exit the bus. They were beaten upon exit as they gasped for air.

Janie Forsyth

One 12-year-old White girl, Janie Forsyth, whose father owned a nearby store went out to give the helpless passengers water, one-by-one. The riders were refused care at the hospital and were forced to leave the hospital at 2am because another mob was forming at the hospital.


When the second bus arrived in Anniston an hour later, 8 Klansmen boarded, beat the riders, and left them semi-conscious in the back of the bus. When that bus made it to Birmingham, the KKK and police attacked and beat the riders with baseball bats, bicycle chains, and iron pipes. U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy sent Justice Department official John Seigenthaler to take control of the chaos. Kennedy also arranged escorts to get the riders into Montgomery safely.

 However, radio reports told of mobs waiting for the riders and Greyhound drivers refused to drive those buses. The Freedom Riders chose to fly so that they would not miss the rally in New Orleans.


More violence ensued in Montgomery, including the beating of John Seigenthaler, which left him unconscious.

Diane Nash, 23, had taken over leading Freedom Rides from Birmingham, Alabama, to Jackson, Mississippi. John Seigenthaler begged Nash to end the rides because by continuing them, she was going to get people killed. Her response was, "We know someone will be killed, but we cannot let violence overcome nonviolence." After a pause, she let him know that they had all signed their last will and testament before they boarded the buses.

The next buses made the journey from Montgomery to Jackson with Highway Patrol and National Guard. When they attempted to use "white-only" facilities they were arrested and jailed. So, the Freedom Riders organized rides to Jackson to fill the jails.

Jackson's jail was filled, Hinds County's jail was filled, then Mississippi State Penitentiary (Parchman Farm) was beginning to fill. The riders were housed in the Death Row unit, given only underwear, no mail, no exercise, etc. The Freedom Riders would sing peacefully through it all. One song in particular, "Hallelujah, I'm a-Traveling" was their anthem. When they would sing, their mattresses, sheets, toothbrushes, and window screens were taken so that mosquitoes could bite them. The guards would hose the riders with pesticides at 2am. More than 300 people were arrested and jailed in Jackson alone.

Robert Kennedy sent the ICC a petition to comply and enforce their own ruling. On November 1, 1961, "white" and "colored" signs in terminals came down and all separate facilities were consolidated. Over 450 people participated in at least one Freedom Ride. About 75% were male and about 50% were White. About 75% were under the age of 30...some were merely teenagers-- 18 & 19 years old...

This brings me to my main purpose for this post. Of course I wanted to celebrate the courageous actions taken by uncompromising, organized, and strong young men and women some 50 years ago...but I want to for a moment compare those young men and women to men and women of today. How many 19 year old Black men would board a bus knowing that they would surely be beaten and possibly killed for simply exercising their legal freedom? How many 23 year old Black women would continue to lead a movement for equality when the U.S. Attorney General is demanding that she stop? What did those young men and women possess in 1961 that is missing in generations today? My theory is that it's not what they had that drove them, it's what they didn't have. Perhaps today's generations are given too much.

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From May 6- May 16, 40 college students will join some of the original Freedom Riders to retrace the steps of the journey from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans.



 A great read that I am recommending is Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice.







On Monday, May 16, 2011, PBS will air "Freedom Riders" a powerful documentary by Stanley Nelson.

---------------- (from nola.com)
50th Anniversary of the Civil Rights Freedom Riders (Ashe Cultural Arts Center, 1712 Oretha C. Haley Blvd.) Ashe is the destination for the 2011 Student Freedom Ride, which has retraced the original route of the historic 1961 Civil Rights bus ride that never made it to New Orleans. Outdoor street festival to await the bus begins at 5 p.m. Music by The Young Audiences Brass Band, a ceremonial release of doves and a commemorative program with freedom songs led by Michaela Harrison, presentation and special recognitions, 6 p.m. "American Experience: Freedom Riders" executive producer Mark Samels and director Stanley Nelson are scheduled to appear; their PBS documentary, previewed by Dave Walker in Monday's Times-Picayune Living section, airs at 8 p.m. Monday on WYES. Admission: Free.


--As always, my standard is Author. What's yours?

OBAMA: Education and the Role of Standardized Tests

For those who know me personally, it is no secret that I feel passionately about education and I don't pass on many chances to share my views on education reform or my feelings on the weight of standardized testing. So, when I learned of President Obama addressing this topic, I was intrigued to say the least. I think he's got the right idea...as he should considering he is the President. For the full article, click here.

I think that many people attack standardized tests altogether, but I instead desire to focus on the weight of performance on certain standardized tests. I think that they can be excellent measures of certain characteristics, but I undoubtedly believe that too much rests on test results...for both students and schools. It has been my experience that schools being held to certain standards of achievement on standardized tests make the test the #1 priority for teachers...thereby making the curriculum less dynamic for the students and the overall education lacking. I have said time and time and time again...like a broken record-- the generations of students in grade schools in the United States today, will be competing in a global landscape for jobs tomorrow. The future of this country is at stake and education policy has to change. The systems that are in place are not working on a large scale...and that is understood. What must happen is major support for the things that are working on a small scale and even more support for innovation in education. Everyone seems to want to jump on a bandwagon behind one thing or the other... when we need fresh new ideas of how to best educate children for life success, whether that leads them to college, technical college, military, trade school, etc... It sounds cliche, but THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX!

Although "college prep" seems to be the sound bite of choice for many urban schools at present. The real question is are the students going to graduate from college. If we take a look at the statistics, the dismal numbers of urban high school graduates that are accepted to college and matriculate are further depressing because recent statistics reveal that only about 43% of them graduate. Getting accepted to college is only the first step of many in college success. I think that the vast majority of "college prep" schools are not truly accepting the reality of these numbers while they are focusing teaching on standardized tests. The majority of their "high achieving" students are not finishing college, so that extremely focused "college prep" curriculum that trimmed out learning about what President Obama called, "the world" and "cultures" has, in essence failed the students.

Oh...but the students passed the standardized tests... isn't that what matters?


--As always, my standard is Author. What's yours?

Herman Cain: 'Don't Condemn Me Because First Black President Was Bad'

After a failed 2004 run for U.S. Senate in Georgia, 2012 Republican Presidential hopeful and pizza CEO extraordinaire, Herman Cain, is ready to travel across the States to meet voters one-on-one.


In a March 13, 2011 Union Leader article, Herman was quoted:

"Now people are over this first black President thing," he said. "But there are some people who will say, 'I'm not going to vote for another black guy because this one didn't work out.'

"And my response is, 'Well, what about those 43 white guys you put in there? How did they work out?'

"Don't condemn me because the first black one was bad," Cain said with a smile.

.........................well, Mr. Cain, we now know you have this President thing down, you sure know how to put your foot in your mouth...just as well as some of our previous Presidents, who shall remain nameless... I would be equally as ignorant if I thought it necessary to comment further on this statement.

For more on Mr. Cain's background and his views on taxation and health insurance, take a look at the article. The Huffington Post also published an article here.

For those of you short on time, I will see if I can abbreviate Mr. Cain's background and road to the White House--Morehouse College (mathematics), worked as mathematician for Department of the Navy while earning a Master's (computer science) at Purdue, then worked for Coca-Cola, moved to Pillsbury to run Burger Kings, took over as Godfather's pizza CEO, now Atlanta radio talk show host...and he says he is "not done yet!"... next stop--President of the United States...."because the first Black one was bad"...

I am sure Mr. Cain is a fine gentleman, who probably can run a mean Burger King or Godfather's pizza company, and host a solid radio talk show- however, I think America may not be quite ready for that expertise in the White House.


--As always, my standard is Author. What's yours?

Motown Takes Over the White House

Motown mastermind, Berry Gordy, and Motown legends, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder... among others, visited the White House in honor of Black History Month. These music heavyweights made their way there to give a music history lesson to over 100 children, from all over the country, who knew very little of Motown and its influential contributions to music, culture, and even politics.


The President and First Lady credited Motown with bridging racial gaps physically prior to the intellectual bridges that are now being built.

In Motown's prime, performers insisted that the ropes that divided a Black and White audience be removed.

I think that it is absolutely phenomenal that this event took place at the White House. Motown is a very important part of Black History, and the educational aspect that accompanied the entertainment at these White House events really reached out to children too young to be familiar with Motown and its impact. Motown was not just another record label... it was a movement all its own. Hats off to the President, the First Lady, and everyone at the White House who made this happen.

For more details, click here and here.


--As always, my standard is Author. What's yours?

Esperanza Spalding

I had to post on this because I am really annoyed with the negativity surrounding her groundbreaking Grammy win for Best New Artist. First of all, I personally had decided years ago that Grammy Awards were quickly losing their prestige because they were handed out to people I would hardly call artists. Just because someone will buy something that a person made, that doesn't make it art... nor the person who made it an artist. So, the trending topic on Twitter is everyone saying things to the effect of "Esperanza who?"

If you do not recognize this ARTIST, you have done yourself a disservice. She is a self-taught prodigy. She is a vocalist that plays multiple instruments. She has performed all over the world-- her first televised performance at age 4. She has more talent in her little finger.... literally, than many of the people who have won a Grammy in recent years. The Grammy committee got it right this time. Kudos!

Spalding brought some diversity to Grammy night. Though she won Best New Artist, she is hardly that. She is an accomplished, creative, multi-talented, professor, musician, vocalist, and a beautiful sister who has been performing professionally longer than any other artist nominated for the award. Although she grew up in a poor single-parent home, Esperanza has consistently used her gifts to climb higher and higher. Esperanza Spalding has been around for a while, and I don't think she is going anywhere soon.

Oh... by the way, for those of you who live under a rock, Esperanza Spalding was personally selected by President Barack Obama to perform at his Nobel Peace Prize ceremonies.

She also performed for a fellow authentic ARTIST, Prince, to honor him at the 2010 BET Awards.

...what? oh...you didn't know?

The Grammy Committee felt it appropriate to salute Esperanza Spalding... and though I have no award to give... I salute Esperanza Spalding for being an inspiration for greatness and for setting her own STANDARD.

--As always, my standard is Author. What's yours?

intelligence... socioeconomic status... & Self-Control

"For Kids, Self-control factors into future success." This is certainly not an unfathomable concept.

For the sake of this blog post, I want to say that I think "intelligence" is relative. Are babies not born a blank slate? Although people do have natural talents-- some better at certain things than others-- it would be illogical to disagree that one's environment and experiences contribute to learned intelligence. This begins long before preschool, which is where this NPR article argues that self-control begins. So, self-control is learned around age 4.

I would venture to say that self-control measurements are a by-product of socioeconomic status on a large scale. Learned intelligence is also strongly influenced by home environments. Socioeconomic status is directly related to trends in criminality, health, and life achievement. Socioeconomic status is obviously not something that is learned, however, self-control is. But is it not intuitive that self control could be the sum total of an individual's learned intelligence and home environment (socioeconomic status)?

It seems that the root of the issue is socioeconomic status. What can we do to diminish the impact of socioeconomic status on the future success of children? I have some ideas. But, when more funding goes into prisons than into a child's education, is this really a priority?


--As always, my standard is Author. What's yours?

See Things As They Really Are

Vipassana is one of the most ancient Indian techniques of meditation. This technique is more than 2500 years old. It is a 10-day residential course being taught worldwide to executives, government officials, and now...prisoners.

Is this a viable recourse to actually rehabilitating criminals? Take a look at this NPR article & this Beaumont Enterprise article - come back to comment. I want to test the pulse of my readers on this particular issue. I think that this technique would only be significantly effective for more mature prisoners or career criminals. Our focus should be on juveniles-- prevention long before that point. Stay tuned for my personal views on prisons and their impact on American society...


--As always, my standard is Author. What's yours?