Multiple generations of Black civil rights activists met at Xavier University on Wednesday to honor a group of Freedom Riders after they finally completed a disrupted bus journey from Washington D.C. to New Orleans 65 years after the original trip was halted.
The original ride, the first in a series of trips to protest Jim Crow laws, was interrupted when a segregationist mob firebombed their buses in Anniston, Alabama on May 14, 1961. The 13 riders
were able to escape the bus before it exploded but sustained beatings from the mob. The next day, they flew directly to New Orleans and sought refuge at Xavier University after hotels refused to host them out of fears of further violence.
Leaving D.C. on Oct. 17 and stopping in historical cities like Selma and Jackson, the latest cohort of Freedom Riders completed the bus route their predecessors were unable to. Among the riders were original participants of the 1961 Freedom Rides, including Steve Thomas, who travelled from Jackson to Montgomery.
Interlocking hands to sing “We Shall Overcome” and hosting a litany of faith-based activists, the reception highlighted a legacy of Black political action amidst concerns of voter suppression after the Louisiana v. Callais Supreme Court decision gutted key provisions of the Voting Rights Act and a nationwide redistricting eliminated majority-Black congressional districts across the Deep South, including one of two in Louisiana.
“We are approaching another election and once again questions about voting rights, equal representation, civic participation and the integrity of our democratic institutions is before us,” said the Rev. Traci Blackmon, who is based in Missouri. “Across the nation, the communities are wrestling questions that should have been settled permanently long ago: ‘Who gets to vote?’”
Among the some of the original Freedom Riders recognized were New Orleans locals Jerome “Big Duck” Smith and Dodie Smith-Simmons. Smith famously met with then-U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy in May 1963, confronting him about the failure to protect him and other civil rights activists against angry white mobs across the South. The meeting is seen as a pivotal factor that pushed the federal government to support the civil rights movement. Smith continued to fight for civil rights and mentor New Orleans’ youth until his death in August. Smith-Simmons, who attended the event, also trained freedom riders when she was with CORE.
Before the Xavier event, the Freedom Riders first stopped at the TEP Interpretive Center — located at the former William Frantz Elementary School — to meet founder Leona Tate, one of the first students to integrate the school in 1960.
They then made their way to Xavier University’s St. Katharine Drexel Chapel for a recognition of their efforts and a program to highlight the legacy of Black activism. Like the original bus trip, solidarity with HBCUs was a throughline for the new campaign as student leaders paid tribute to the actions of their predecessors.
“Mr. Smith was more than a fighter and freedom rider. He was a father, a mentor, and a man who demonstrated love, courage, culture and commitment to his family. We honor him today, and his sacrifice, his service and his journey,” said Xavier University student Paytra Flood, who spoke at the event. “As we welcome back Freedom Riders to Xavier, we recognize that we are standing on the shoulders of those who came before us. As students at this historically Black University, we have the responsibility to understand history that shaped our communities.”
While the original Freedom Rides were undertaken to confront ongoing transit segregation, this year’s trip sought to mobilize voters and encourage activists to understand what they can do today to enact change.
Kredelle Petway-Phillips, a legacy Freedom Rider who also participated in the recent trip, said she wanted to remind young Americans of the importance of their vote and ability to make change. Her Freedom Ride was an July 1961 airplane trip from Montgomery, Alabama, to Jackson, Mississippi, where she was arrested by Jackson police and held for three days. Petway-Phillips’ participation in the rides was seen as integral to the eventual desegregation of flights. When she visited Jackson for the 50th reunion of her flight, she said it was rewarding for her to see Black people represented in the local government.
“It’s up to you young people to vote and keep the legacy alive,” Petway-Phillips said.
“Fight for what’s right (and) vote for the common good of all people because what affects one affects the other. … We all suffer when one suffers.”
The Xavier ceremony wrapped up with a second line from the chapel to a statue of Norman Francis, who provided safe refuge for the May 1961 Freedom Riders when he was Xavier University Dean of Men. Francis, who died earlier this year, later became Xavier’s first Black and non-clergy member president in 1968.
“The reality is that we have to declare that there is more work to be done,” said Bishop Erika Crawford of the Eighth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church that represents AME churches in Louisiana and Mississippi. “There are testimonies about what happens when we refuse to allow the last stops to be the final stop …This is the last stop, but don’t let it be the final stop.”
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This story was originally published by Verite News and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press.
