Freedom Riders pt. 1

For the past few months, I have been coordinating events surrounding the 2011 Student Freedom Ride and their stop in Rock Hill, South Carolina. Needless to say, it has been rather exhausting but so worth it. Monday night, the group was hosted at the Levine Museum of the New South for a screening of Freedom Riders, and a bit of a question and answer period with original riders Helen and Robert Singleton, Joan Mulholland and Rip Patton.

First United Presbyterian was a packed house that had the likes of B.B. de Laine, and Charles Jones, all celebrating the Freedom Riders. It was an incredible night. But I have to say, the one thing that stuck out to me was “Who the hell is Diane Nash?” I chuckled at how Robert Kennedy responded to the 2nd wave of Freedom Riders because you could tell that the Kennedy administration wasn’t paying attention to what these students set out to do. For those of you who have not seen a snippet of this marvelous documentary, you are going to love it. Monday night ended in success, with much mingling with author Ray Arsenault and the riders, but since I knew I would see them again on Tuesday and would have considerable time with them, I let a very grateful Charlotte crowd have their moment. Coming next…the Freedom Riders hit Rock Hill