Fifty years later, Youth and Elders Keep the Spirit of the Freedom Rides Alive, by Rosana Cruz

From our friends at Bridge the Gulf:
In the dim light of a projector, rapt faces took in the solemn image of a bus in flames. On screen, a multiracial group of youth crawled in the grass, coughing and choking from the smoke of the blaze behind them. This was just the first in a series of attacks that the Freedom Riders of 1961 faced as they made their way through the South. Fifty years later, at the RAE house in New Orleans, the lessons and struggles of these youth came alive to a multi-generational, multi-racial audience carrying on the current-day fight for justice.

“Back then they would sick dogs on you and you couldn’t ride on those buses but today we have the school-to-prison pipeline,” says Briana O’Neal after the viewing of Freedom Riders, a new Firelight Media documentary directed by Stanley Nelson. The viewing was co-hosted by Voice Of The Ex-offender (VOTE, where I am Associate Director) and Fyre Youth Squad. VOTE and FYS invited a multigenerational audience to share their reflections after the viewing the powerful documentary. This dialogue was critical for us because we wanted to go beyond remembering history, and explore how lessons from the Freedom Rides inform our work today.

What were the Freedom Rides really?

The Freedom Rides of the Civil Rights Movement is a story that has survived over the decades, but the details have faded with time. Many viewers, even those alive at the time of the original Freedom Rides, said that they did not know the true depth and scope and the extreme terror brought against these brave young Riders.

The film describes the Freedom Rides as “six months in 1961 that changed America forever. From May until November 1961, more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives—and many endured savage beatings and imprisonment—for simply traveling together on buses and trains as they journeyed through the Deep South. Deliberately violating Jim Crow laws, the Freedom Riders met with bitter racism and mob violence along the way, sorely testing their belief in nonviolent activism.”

The documentary details the planning and execution of the trips (which were initially designed to last two weeks) and the ensuing campaign of terror that white supremacists like the KuKluxKlan and others, including government officials, waged against the swelling movement of riders. The original group was comprised of a few dozen youth from around the country. The more violence the Freedom Riders faced, thwarting the buses progress, the more young people put themselves in the line of fire. These youth took on a strong leadership role and, by continuing on with the dangerous rides, challenged the Kennedy brothers and even Rev. Dr. King himself, who urged a more moderate strategy. It is a story filled with inspiring moments as well as brilliant strategy.

“I’d heard the Freedom Rider story but never heard the story told this way,” shared Fyre Youth Squad member Debbie Carey. “I appreciate this documentary because I felt like I was told the truth about the movement, about young people’s contributions to the movement. I even experienced for the first time Dr. King being presented as human as the rest of us. Everyone I know made MLK seem like he was a supernatural hero, but in this documentary it revealed his fear and young people’s courage.”

And what now?

Perhaps what resonated most for audience members, young and old alike, was the sense that, especially in current day New Orleans, the need to stand up for justice is still so urgent. “Back at the time of the Civil Rights struggle, we did a lot of stuff in New Orleans. We walked on Canal Street. We boycotted. We went into the white stores. Our teachers, our elders, they encouraged us to see ourselves, even though we were young black men at the time, just high school students, they taught us to see ourselves as full citizens,” remembers Mr. Erroll Lewis a member of VOTE. “Young people are still facing the challenge of discrimination. We have a responsibility to make sure that message to stand up, to demand our rights, is alive today.”

The Freedom Riders event was originally conceived to bring different age groups of activists and community members together to commemorate and discuss the historic rides. But “on a deeper level, we wanted to ask each other, would you have gotten on that bus?” said Norris Henderson, director of VOTE. “We didn’t know where the conversation was going to take us. “

Briana O’Neal responded, “I was asked at the end of the movie, ‘would I have got back on the bus after all that had happened?’ I would have to say that I would have to have been there going through what they did to answer that, but in today’s world, in my city, I can say I’m on the bus and I’m not getting off until we all are free and our children to come are also free.”

Freedom Riders will be rescreened twice this summer, once at the Treme Community Center and once at the Youth Empowerment Village. Watch www.vote-nola.org for the exact date and time. Discussion and refreshments will be included as part of each screening event.

Rosana Cruz is Associate Director of VOTE (Voice Of The Ex-offender). Previously Rosana worked with Safe Streets/Strong Communities and the National Immigration Law Center. Prior to joining NILC, she worked with SEIU1991 in Miami, after having been displaced from New Orleans by Katrina. Before the storm, Rosana worked for a diverse range of community organizations, including the Latin American Library, Hispanic Apostolate, the Lesbian and Gay Community Center of New Orleans, and People's Youth Freedom School. Rosana came to New Orleans through her work with the Southern Regional Office of Amnesty International in Atlanta.

Street Law Classes Launch Legal Training Program

From our friends at Voice Of The Ex-offender (V.O.T.E.):
Earlier this year VOTE began its Street Law series designed to educate people of all ages about their constitutional rights in the criminal justice system. The Street Law Class is broken up into three lessons and covers 4th Amendment protections against unreasonable search and seizure, explaining the difference between what the police are supposed to do by law and what they usually do in everyday routine encounters. The instructors, all Formerly Incarcerated Persons with decades of legal knowledge, cover Terry Stops, Miranda Rights and Probable Cause, among other topics. Participants also learn the do’s and don’ts of police encounters and the basics of court proceedings.

The Street Law Class is the first part of VOTE’s 3 part Legal Training Program. In June, VOTE will host a Legal Research Class that instructs participants in how to procure information about an individual’s case from Docket Master, how to read court documents and how to use a law library. This class is not only designed to help individuals research legal issues that are directly impacting them, but also how to use these research skills to help fellow members of their community such as family, neighbors and friends. The Legal Research Class will be held in June during 1 to 2.

The Legal Research Class is a pre-requisite for V.O.T.E.’s Paralegal Training Program which is slated to begin in July. This 10 week course will be intensive job training specifically for FIPs or their immediate family members. Participants will be trained and mentored by FIPs who work in the legal field on reading legal documents, brief writing, in-depth legal research and other necessary skills for a successful career as a paralegal. VOTE is currently recruiting attorneys who will commit to contracting with the graduates of the Paralegal Training Program.

For more information on these classes, or to sign up, contact VOTE at (504) 943-1901.

VOTE is an organization dedicated to building the political power of people most impacted by the criminal justice system, especially formerly incarcerated persons (FIPs,) their families and loved ones. Through leadership development, community education and voter mobilization, VOTE will ensure that our constituents are at the center of transforming the criminal justice system.

Louisiana Justice Institute Presents: Guest Writer Joe Blakk reflects on Congressional Black Caucus Convention

Joe Blakk is a rapper, small businessman, and longtime community activist in New Orleans. He is also a community organizer with the organization VOTE: Voice of the Ex-Offender. Last month, VOTE staffers Norris Henderson, Joe Blakk and Rosana Cruz traveled to Washington DC to attend the Congressional Black Caucus’ Annual Legislative Conference. Below are Joe Blakk’s reflections on the trip.

The Congressional Black Caucus Convention was an event made up of four days of information and sharing, addressing the state of African Americans in America. This years theme was Reinvest, Rebuild and Renew, where we focused on solutions, as opposed to only talking about our problems. The seminars were mind blowing with the biggest issue being trying to decide on which seminar to attend.

The more seminars you attend, and the more you talk and listen to others, you begin to understand that the struggles in the black community are universal, whether it is gentrification, the cradle to prison pipeline, or gerrymandering. You also begin to realize that the 13th Amendment wasn’t the end of the line for slavery; it was only a stop we had to make to transfer to a bus that made less noise.

This was my third time attending the Congressional Convention and they are always empowering and motivating. It’s not every day you get a chance to be hands on with congressmen and other powerful and influential black people in our country. I wish there were a way we could bring more of the people from our community next year to experience this. I always leave more empowered and energized. It was a mind blowing experience. In the Post-Obama America, nothing will be handed to us. We can no longer wait on the bus; we must be that bus.