From the film Freedom Riders: Freedom to Travel, part 1
Diane Nash and Charles Person discuss the difficulties for black people traveling in the segregated South.
From the film Freedom Riders: Victory for Nonviolence,...
Before getting on the bus, Freedom Riders participated in CORE training sessions, which included a demonstration of nonviolence in volatile situations. Rev. James Lawson and Julian Bond discuss how nonviolence courted to violence in order to attract publicity for the cause.
From the film Freedom Riders: Jim Crow Laws
The segregation and disenfranchisement laws known as "Jim Crow" created a system of racial apartheid across the American South for more than 75 years. The laws affected almost every aspect of daily life, mandating segregation of schools, parks, libraries, drinking fountains, restrooms, buses, trains, and restaurants.
From the film Freedom Riders: Freedom to Travel, part 2
Ray Arsenault discusses the importance of Irene Morgan, who took her case to the Supreme Court with Morgan vs. Virginia. However, the subsequent Supreme Court ruling of the unconstitutionality of segregated interstate bus travel, Julian Bond points out, was largely ignored in the segregated South.
From the film Freedom Riders: Democracy in Action
Glenda Gaither Davis is interviewed while riding on the bus toward Jackson, Mississippi.
From the film Freedom Riders: Victory for Nonviolence,...
Rabbi Dresser and Delore Boyd comment on the power of nonviolent methods. Boyd points out that the tenacity of white participants opened her eyes to the fact that white people were not all the same.
From the film Freedom Riders: Freedom to Travel, part 3
On September 22, 1961, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC) orders all "colored only" and "whites only" signs to be taken down in all bus and rail stations across the country. "This was the first unambiguous victory in the long history of the civil rights movement," says Ray Arsenault. "It raised expectations across the board for greater victories in the future."
From the film Freedom Riders: the Solid South
In his bid for the presidency, JFK had to tread carefully around the heart of the Democratic Party - the white voting south. John Patterson, Governor of Alabama from 1959 to 1963, speaks about his endorsement of Kennedy for president.
From the film Freedom Riders: the Cold War
Foreign newsreels contemplate the inequality between races in the United States.
From the film Freedom Riders: John Lewis on the Spirit of...
John Lewis speaks about the Freedom Rides' accomplishments.
From the film Freedom Riders: John Seigenthaler on...
John Seigenthaler speaks about Martin Luther King liberating both black and white Americans.
From the film Freedom Riders: Jerry Moore on What Came Next
Jerry Moore speaks about what the Freedom Rides accomplished.
From the film Freedom Riders: Rev. C.T. Vivian on Jim...
Reverend C.T. Vivian speaks about why blacks were resisting oppression in the 1960s.
From the film Freedom Riders: Bernard Lafayette on Jim...
Bernard Lafayette speaks about traveling in the South.
From the film Freedom Riders: Jim Lawson on Why a Victory...
Jim Lawson speaks about why he chose nonviolence intervention.
From the film Freedom Riders: Rev. C.T. Vivian on...
Reverend C.T. Vivian speaks about Robert F. Kennedy asking for a cooling off period.
From the film Freedom Riders: Catherine Burks-Brooks on...
Catherine Burks-Brooks speaks about deciding to join the Freedom Ride with the Nashville Student Movement.
From the film Freedom Riders: Bernard Lafayette on the...
Bernard Lafayette speaks about three groups from the Nashville Student Movement.
From the film Freedom Riders: John Lewis on Freedom to...
John Lewis speaks about traveling in 1960.
From the film Freedom Riders: Janie McKinney on Jim Crow...
Janie McKinney speaks about the Southern society as a house of cards.
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