In May 1961, a group of 13 young people (seven black and six white) sponsored by CORE and modeled after the 1947 CORE “Journey of Reconciliation” (Anderson, pp. 51-54), who called themselves “the Freedom Riders,” traveled from Washington D.C. to Alabama and Mississippi by interstate bus to register black voters and challenge Jim Crow policies. This was one of about 60 “Freedom Rides” from different locations throughout the country to various locations in the South from May to December of 1961. (Id.)
The D.C. Freedom Riders met with little resistance or hostility until they got to South Carolina. The busses were smoke-bombed in Anniston, Alabama, where local hospital officials refused to treat the Riders. In Birmingham, Alabama, the busses were bombed and the Riders were beaten by a white mob with metal pipes and baseball bats, while police officials, including police commissioner, Eugene “Bull” Connor, urged them on. (Id.; Jennings and Brewster, p. 376; van Rijn, Kennedy, pp. 79-81.) In Montgomery, Alabama, another white mob attacked the Riders. They poured flammable liquid on one of them, attempting to set him on fire. When the Riders arrived in Jackson, Mississippi 27 of them were arrested for using a “white only” restroom. They were sentenced to sixty days at the state prison. (Id.)
When news of the troubles confronted by the first group of Freedom Riders made its way north, a second freedom ride from Nashville, Tennessee to Birmingham, Alabama was organized. “Bull” Connor arrested these Riders, jailed them for two days and then escorted them to the Alabama-Tennessee border, where he told them never to come back. However, they continued on to Montgomery, where they were met by a crowd of 300 whites armed with baseball bats and iron pipes. Many were injured in the melee that followed. Because the local police would not protect the Riders, the Kennedy administration ordered the National Guard to assist. (Anderson, pp. 52-53.)
The song “Hallelujah, I’m Traveling,” anonymous (1947), with additional verses added in the 1960s, sung by Pamela Baugham, reflects the mindset of the Freedom Riders group. (https://youtu.be/kf0ielfsGYg)
Stand up and rejoice, a great day is here
We are fighting Jim Crow and the victory’s near.
Hallelujah, I’m a travelin’, hallelujah, ain’t it fine?
Hallelujah, I’m a-traveling down freedom’s main line!I read in the news the Supreme Court has said,
“Listen here, Mr. Jim Crow, it’s time you was dead.”
Hallelujah, I’m a travelin’, hallelujah, ain’t it fine?
Hallelujah, I’m a-traveling down freedom’s main line!The judges declared in Washington town,
“You white folks must take that old Jim Crow sign down.”
Hallelujah, I’m a travelin’, hallelujah, ain’t it fine?
Hallelujah, I’m a-traveling down freedom’s main line!I’m paying my fare on the Greyhound bus line.
I’m riding the front seat to Nashville this time.
Hallelujah, I’m a travelin’, hallelujah, ain’t it fine?
Hallelujah, I’m a-traveling down freedom’s main line!Columbia’s the gem of the ocean, they say.
We’re fighting Jim Crow in Columbia today.
Hallelujah, I’m a travelin’, hallelujah, ain’t it fine?
Hallelujah, I’m a-traveling down freedom’s main line!I hate Jim Crow and Jim Crow hates me
And that’s why I’m fighting for my liberty.
Hallelujah, I’m a travelin’, hallelujah, ain’t it fine?
“Calypso Freedom,” written by Cynthia Tierney about her experiences as a Freedom Rider, is sung by Sweet Honey on the Rock. (http://www.jukebo.com/sweet-honey-in-the-rock/music-clip,calypso-freedom,qsvl8u.html)
Freedom, give us freedom
Freedom’s coming and it won’t be long
Well I took a trip on a Greyhound bus
I got to fight segregation
now this we must.
(I got to fight segregation around the nation,
we got to keep on fighting all around the world.)We met a lot of violence on Mother’s Day
(But I ain scared of no violence
I won’t run from violence no)
Well on to Mississippi with speed we go
Blue shirted policemen
they meet us at the door.
(but I ain scared of no policemen no they
don’t scare me, they can wear blue shirts or
white shirts or any color shirts, I don’t care)Well you can hinder me here,
you can hinder me there
But I go right down on my knees in prayer
(I will pray for freedom
I will sing for freedom I keep a-fighting
for freedom, I keep a marching for freedom)Freedom Riders, Phil Ochs, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijvCvOUtaog
Jackson, Mississippi, is a mighty white town,
the white folks they like to keep the black folks down
they think they’ll be alright, but there’s gonna be a fight
and they’ll have to share that freedom crown,
yes, they’ll have to share that freedom crown.Freedom Riders roll along
Freedom Riders won’t be long
won’t be long.
They boarded a bus in Washington D.C.
to enter a state half slave and half free
the wheels hummed a song and they sang along
the song of liberty, the song of liberty.Jimmy Farmer was a hard fightin’ man
decided one day that he had to make a stand
he led them down to slavery town
and they threw Jim Farmer in the can
and they threw Jim Farmer in the can.Jimmy Farmer was a hard fightin’ man
decided one day that he had to make a stand
he led them down to slavery town
and they threw Jim Farmer in the can
and they threw Jim Farmer in the can.One of these days and it won’t be long
the solid South is gonna sing another song
They’ll understand that a man’s not a man
’til he has all the freedoms of the land.Jimmy Farmer was a hard fightin’ man
decided one day that he had to make a stand
he led them down to slavery town
and they threw Jim Farmer in the can
and they threw Jim Farmer in the can.
Marilyn Irene Eisenberg was an 18-year-old white student at UCLA. She accompanied a group of riders on a freedom bus ride that left from New Orleans on July 15, 1961 to Jackson, Mississippi. She was arrested and spent a month and a half in jail in Parchman, Mississippi. (Sis Cunningham, ed., Broadside, National Topical Song Quarterly, Vol. 3.) She wrote “Freedom Rider” about her experience (Carawan, p. 55.) The following words are sung to the tune of “Yankee Doodle”:
Freedom Riders came to town
Riding on the railway,
Mississippi locked them up
Said you can’t even use the Trailways.Mississippi, you are wrong,
You’ve gone against the nation
We’ll keep coming big and strong
And we’ll end segregation!