Is Nashville being left out of the 50 anniversary celebration of the Freedom Riders — that group of mostly college students who traveled the South in the spring and early summer of 1961 to protest segregation on interstate buses and in restaurants and bus terminal restrooms?
Kwame Leo Lillard thinks so — as a result, he did not take part in the filming of a segment about the Freedom Riders that aired on Oprah Wednesday.
“Oprah grew up in Nashville, and she knew the history of the Freedom Riders,’’ Lillard said. “Instead of having people go to Chicago, she should have come back to Nashville to film the segment. Nashville played a major role in the Freedom Rides, and it is being hijacked.’’
While the original Freedom Riders left Washington on May 4, 1961, it was mainly college students from Nashville who picked up the Freedom Rides after the original group’s Greyhound bus was firebombed in Anniston, Ala., 10 days later.
Another group of that first wave of riders was attacked that same day, May 14, in Birmingham, Ala., while traveling on a Trailways bus. Several of the riders on that bus were seriously injured, as were some of those on the first bus.
In Nashville, a group of mostly college students, including John Lewis, who had been on the bus that left Washington and was firebombed in Anniston, decided to resume the Freedom Rides. They left Nashville on May 17, 1961, headed for Birmingham.
Lillard didn’t ride a bus, but he played a major role by driving down to Ardmore, Tenn., early on May 19 to rescue a group of riders who had been brought back to the Tennessee state line and put out by notorious Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner Bull Conner.
On returning to Nashville, the integrated group took up the ride again and, with the help of then-Justice Department official John Seigenthaler, who had previously been a journalist in Nashville, made their way to Montgomery, Ala., where they were attacked by a mob at the Greyhound bus station. Later, Freedom Riders would travel to Mississippi, where they were arrested and some were imprisoned.
This month, a number of activities are taking place in Jackson, Miss., to support the Freedom Riders’ 50th anniversary.
“The Nashville story doesn’t come through all the time,’’ Smith, now 69, told me. “We were the foot soldiers. I can’t explain it, but that is the way it is. Maybe we need to do a book and tell our stories ourselves.’’
While Lillard does not plan to go to Mississippi for anniversary events, he does plan to be in Montgomery on May 22 for the opening of the old Greyhound station as a museum, where the Freedom Riders will be honored by the Alabama Historical Commission.
While no major celebrations are taking place here this month to honor the riders, PBS is bringing riders and college students to Nashville to learn more about what took place here.
People certainly need to know about Nashville’s role in the Freedom Rides. It was just that important.
The origin site : http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110505/COLUMNIST0107/305050027/Nashville-slighted-in-Freedom-Ride-events
Kwame Leo Lillard thinks so — as a result, he did not take part in the filming of a segment about the Freedom Riders that aired on Oprah Wednesday.
“Oprah grew up in Nashville, and she knew the history of the Freedom Riders,’’ Lillard said. “Instead of having people go to Chicago, she should have come back to Nashville to film the segment. Nashville played a major role in the Freedom Rides, and it is being hijacked.’’
While the original Freedom Riders left Washington on May 4, 1961, it was mainly college students from Nashville who picked up the Freedom Rides after the original group’s Greyhound bus was firebombed in Anniston, Ala., 10 days later.
Another group of that first wave of riders was attacked that same day, May 14, in Birmingham, Ala., while traveling on a Trailways bus. Several of the riders on that bus were seriously injured, as were some of those on the first bus.
In Nashville, a group of mostly college students, including John Lewis, who had been on the bus that left Washington and was firebombed in Anniston, decided to resume the Freedom Rides. They left Nashville on May 17, 1961, headed for Birmingham.
Lillard didn’t ride a bus, but he played a major role by driving down to Ardmore, Tenn., early on May 19 to rescue a group of riders who had been brought back to the Tennessee state line and put out by notorious Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner Bull Conner.
On returning to Nashville, the integrated group took up the ride again and, with the help of then-Justice Department official John Seigenthaler, who had previously been a journalist in Nashville, made their way to Montgomery, Ala., where they were attacked by a mob at the Greyhound bus station. Later, Freedom Riders would travel to Mississippi, where they were arrested and some were imprisoned.
This month, a number of activities are taking place in Jackson, Miss., to support the Freedom Riders’ 50th anniversary.
'We were foot soldiers'
Mary Jean Smith, a Nashvillian who was a 19-year-old student at Tennessee State University when she was arrested in Jackson as a Freedom Rider in July 1961, says she is returning to the Magnolia State to participate in the reunion activities. She also went to Chicago for the Oprah segment.“The Nashville story doesn’t come through all the time,’’ Smith, now 69, told me. “We were the foot soldiers. I can’t explain it, but that is the way it is. Maybe we need to do a book and tell our stories ourselves.’’
While Lillard does not plan to go to Mississippi for anniversary events, he does plan to be in Montgomery on May 22 for the opening of the old Greyhound station as a museum, where the Freedom Riders will be honored by the Alabama Historical Commission.
While no major celebrations are taking place here this month to honor the riders, PBS is bringing riders and college students to Nashville to learn more about what took place here.
People certainly need to know about Nashville’s role in the Freedom Rides. It was just that important.
The origin site : http://www.tennessean.com/article/20110505/COLUMNIST0107/305050027/Nashville-slighted-in-Freedom-Ride-events
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