Freedom Rides= Change for all

The first thing that resulted in the freedom rides were the counter sit ins. Black students from 4 different colleges wanted a change so that why they devolped the sit ins at local diners. the interesting part is that even when they got arrested the people at the counter sitting, the next rave sat down in the chairs. They had so many blacks partipate in the act to better our country. Ben West was the mayor then and at the beginning of the sit ins he was not for them at all, but after the sit ins, the freedom ride began. The freedom ride was designed for blacks as well as white people helped too. Tipically the white people ride in the front of the bus, but the road thousands of miles with two busses where the white's sat in the back and allowed the blacks the front. A black man said " One thing we did right was the day we started the fight". This is so true in so many ways, if it wasnt for those sit in and the freedom ride we wouldnt all be equal like everyone is. It was intresting that Ben West mayor finally reliezed what was going on and did admit what was happening was wrong in so many ways and after he spoke from the heart of a real man (not just speaking from the mayors point of view) he changed everyhting for everyone. Three weeks after he spoke the black people finally got justice and was served at the counter.

Ain't Scared of Your Jails

After watching the documentary film, Ain't Scared of Your Jails, I came out thinking how crazy it must have been during that time period. It was only 40-50 years ago but that shows how far we have come. The film was about the early civil rights movement leading up to the Freedom Riders movement and its affect on the nation afterwards. Early in the Civil Rights movement students and community members lead the way with the protests. Protest tactics included peaceful sit-ins at restaurants, and diners primarily, but soon they occurred at local government areas and segregated areas of the city. The protest involve people sitting down or remaining in place peacefully in a form of rebellion against the segregated society. They would be there for days on end until eventually they were attacked by racist mobs or arrested by local police while still remaining nonviolent. In the film one quote that caught my ear was by Ben West, major of Nashville, Tennessee. "They asked me some pretty soul-searching questions. And one that was addressed to me as a man, and I tried as best I could to answer it frankly and honesty, that I could not agree that it was morally right for someone to sell them merchandise and refuse them service. And I had to answer it just exactly that way...I would answer it the same way because it was a moral and it was one that a man has to answer and not a politician." This caught my ear, because it was the first time I heard a governing official admit that segregation is wrong, and back then it was was seen as the first of many wins the Civil Rights movement will eventually achieve.

Freedom Rides

During 1961 although public transportation was not supposed to be segregated blacks were still to sit in the back of the bus so the whites could sit in the front. Because this was so a group of people calling themselves the Freedom Riders decided to take a bus trip through the South ignoring this idea, with hope that their demonstration would compel the Federal Government to uphold their laws to desegregate interstate travel that state officials in the South would not uphold. The Riders ran into many mobs and were beat and hurt many times even though authorities had prior knowledge of what was going to happen. With this happening they thought the rides would have to end until the SNCC students stepped in. Diane Nash was one the student who felt strongly about finishing the ride to prove their point. She even said, “If the Freedom Ride had been stopped as a result of violence I strongly felt that the future of the movement was going to be cut short because the impression would have been given that whenever a movement starts all that has to be done is that you attack it with violence and the blacks would stop.” After the violent incident the purpose of the Rides evolved to show that the citizens, no matter their skin color need to be protected by the state, and just because they were attacked didn’t mean they were going to run scared and not fight for their freedom. It took until September but finally then their purpose was fulfilled when the Interstate Commerce Commission complied to ban segregation of interstate travel.

The 1st Moon Landing

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Statue of Liberty

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Little Rock 9

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The Waco Siege

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