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The Freedom Rides of 1961 were a series of bus rides launched by CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) from May to November of 1961, a civil rights group consisting of both black and white members, to protest segregation in interstate bus terminals and their facilities, following the Greensboro Sit-ins success in 1960. Their aim was to ride through Louisiana in the South from Washington, D.C and try to use ¨whites-only¨ facilities like restrooms, lunch counters, etc., to challenge the Jim Crow laws in the South that segregated the interstate travel system, despite the federal law passing an Interstate Commerce Commission law that stated it was illegal to segregate public interstate facilities. Two sets of riders were organized: the Greyhound and the Trailways buses. The first group of Freedom Riders started their journey on May 4th, 1961 on a Greyhound bus. They traveled through Virginia and North Carolina without gaining much attention. Upon reaching South Carolina, the group encountered violence for the first time, where they were beaten up by many white men for attempting to use a restroom reserved for only white people. Despite being physically attacked, the freedom riders continued their journey, passing Georgia without any disturbance. Their arrival in Anniston, Alabama was when the violence worsened. The Greyhound bus was surrounded by around 200 angry white members, and the mob continued to follow the bus. Finally, the bus tired blew out and a bomb was thrown into the bus. Luckily, the freedom riders escaped the bus, but they were brutally beaten by the angry mob. The bus burst into flames, and the Greyhound's bus´ journey was over. This incident didn't stop the second group from moving on, however. The Trailways bus reached Birmingham, Alabama, the next day, and this group was also met with violence. They were beaten with metal pipes by another set of white citizens, and no protection was posted for them. The freedom riders didn't attack back; they only suffered the consequences, representing their nonviolence. Pictures of the burning bus, like shown below, and injured riders were publicized throughout the country by newspapers, bringing attention to the Freedom Riders and their cause. The violence that had occurred had let them down, and without a bus driver, the CORE group had discontinued the Freedom Rides. In spite of this, an SNCC activist named Diane Nash organized another group of 10 students to continue the Freedom Rides again. The Federal government got involved when U.S attorney general Robert F. Kennedy called John Patterson, the governor of Alabama, to find a driver for the Freedom Riders with full police protection. On May 20th, the Freedom Rides continued and departed Birmingham, with police escort. However, before the riders could reach their destination in Montgomery, Alabama, the police left them and another set of angry white people beat the riders with baseball bats and clubs. Under Attorney General Kennedy´s orders, federal officers were sent to break the violence. The next night, civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. gave a speech at the First Baptist Church in Montgomery. Thousands of Freedom Rides´ supporters attended the service, and a riot occurred outside the church. Again, Attorney General Kennedy had to be called by Martin Luther King Jr. for protection.  On May 24th, the Greyhound bus left for Jackson, Mississippi, from Montgomery and the riders were greeted by many supporters. Nonetheless, riders who attempted to use ¨whites-only¨ facilities were arrested for trespassing and were taken to the maximum-security penitentiary, The judge didn't bother to even hear the Freedom Riders´ defense,  and they were sentenced to 30 years in jail. Lawyers from the NAACP appealed the judgement all the way to the Supreme Court, where the riders´ sentenced was reversed. The violence by angry mobs and arrests of freedom riders resulted from the Freedom Rides continued to grasp attention nationwide, and new supporters joined the cause each day. The Freedom Rides even continued for a few months to follow, and in the fall of that same year, the Kennedy administration forced the Interstate Commerce Commission to integrate its interstate transit terminals and facilities. The Freedom Rides protest wasn't an easy win; it caused a lot of commotion and many were injured. Despite this, the freedom riders and members like Diane Nash of the SNCC were persevered to win their fight- they figured their victory was worth the risk. ¨The Freedom Riders were able to remain nonviolent when their lives were in danger, despite the burning of the Greyhound Bus near Anniston, Alabama on May 14 and the brutal riots in Birmingham, Alabama on May 14 and Montgomery, Alabama on May 20. Their courage and stoicism, even when beaten and bloodied, left a deep impression on the nation and the world¨, according to www.pbs.org. This shows that despite the brutality that they faced, the freedom riders continued their journey without raising a single finger on anyone. All they did was defy the South's Jim Crow laws, although they were aware of the harshness they would face. This nonviolent way of protesting by the freedom riders helped capture nationwide attention through media, helping the freedom riders gather more supporters. In fact, federal laws had already been passed to abandon segregation in bus facilities all around the U.S, but the South had a special policy of segregating most public places. Similar to the Greensboro Sit-ins, the Freedom Riders were stubborn about their goal and wouldn't give up no matter what. It resulted in ¨the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 outlawing racial discrimination in public and private facilities, passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 outlawing discriminatory voting practices, and with them the end of legally enforced segregation as a way of life¨, according to www.pbs.org. The Freedom Riders have impacted our society to this day, which is why the U.S does not have segregation policies anymore and racial segregation in public amenities does not play a part in society anymore. Furthermore, a museum known as the Freedom Rides Museum has been built in Montgomery, Alabama, to commemorate the Freedom Rides effort.

Here is a video that briefly explains the Freedom Rides and gives a clearer visual insight about them:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-FranrEa8vg

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The Greensboro Sit-ins were a series of protest from February 1st, 1960 to July 25th, 1960 started by four African-American students in Greensboro, North Carolina who sparked civil disobedience by sitting in seats reserved for white people at a lunch counter in the Woolworth store. The protest first began when the four students sat at the lunch counter in the Woolworth store, which was reserved for just white people. The four were denied service and asked to leave by employees, but they refused to listen and stayed till the store closed. The next day, they came back, repeating the same process, this time with another twenty students. Day by day, more and more demonstrators would join and support the sit-ins. Eventually, thousands of protesters had lined up to encourage the sit-ins. Inspired by Mohandas Gandhi's nonviolent protest methods, their goal was to end segregation at the Woolworth Store and other lunch counters without being violent in anyway. On the second day, news reporters and TV cameramen came in and captured the sit-ins on camera for the country, and eventually, the world, to learn about. Now, citizens across the country were following the sit-ins and staging the same in their areas. Their directions were simply to sit quietly and wait to be served for as long as it would take. The participants of the Greensboro sit-ins were harassed by local white customers and food would be thrown at them to possibly trigger a physical fight, but the participants just underwent the punishment and stubbornly sat in their spots, still without a sign of violence. When policemen came to arrest the demonstrators, a new group of protestors would occupy the vacated seats. This shows that their obstinate behavior overpowered any type of violence thrown at them, which is why their nonviolent method of protest resulted in success and finally abolished the segregation policy at the Woolworth Store. In the weeks following this, many other lunch counters around Greensboro desegregated too. Additionally, a small section of the Greensboro lunch counter has been donated to the Smithsonian in honor of this event. The Greensboro Four are still remembered to this day and their initiative has impacted many more generations. According to www.dummies.com, the Greensboro sit-in tactic helped integrate other facilities, and by August 1961, around 70,000 people had participated in sit-ins nationwide. This event even helped involve many students across the country in the Civil Rights Movement. In addition to this, restaurant facilities currently are integrated, and this is the result of the Greensboro Sit-in event. Racism is still an issue today, but the world would be a much more different place if it weren't for the sit-in participants who sacrificed their dignity and time for a more civilized world where racial equality would have value.

Here is a video that provides a more visual insight of the Greensboro Sit-ins: http://www.travelchannel.com/videos/historic-lunch-counter-sit-in-0154295

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