Our drive from Atlanta to Birmingham with a stop in Anniston, AL was even more powerful than our morning at the MLK Historical Center. If you know nothing or very little about the Freedom Riders take a moment to read some history of this very significant, daring and powerful part of the Civil Rights Movement. (Here is the wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_riders.)
Atlanta to Birmingham through Anniston was a momentous segment of the Freedom Rider's journey. The racist segregationists of Alabama were ready to welcome these rebels who threatened to confront their southern way of living. In the small town of Anniston we found the small alleyway where the Greyhound bus stopped and was immediately surrounded by 50 members of the KKK who, for the 15 minutes the police gave them, attacked the bus breaking windows and slashing tires all the while shouting threats to those on board. The wall of that alley now has a painted Greyhound bus with the question above it, "Could you get on the bus?" Could I? If I were alive then, would I have volunteered to ride...to be threatened...to be beaten? I know what I would like my answer to be. I doubt that would be the honest answer.
From that alley we drove the old Highway 202 six miles out of town where the slashed tires finally gave out. Along the side of that lonely highway the KKK members from Anniston surrounded the bus, forced the door locked and fire bombed it, intending to burn the riders to death.
The parallel Trailways bus was just an hour behind the Greyhound bus. We stopped by the location of the Anniston Trailways bus station where those riders were greeted by segregationist thugs who boarded their bus and beat them before sending them on their way to Birmingham where they where another beating was waiting for them.
Yet, through all of this, every rider from both buses wished to continue their quest through Alabama and down to New Orleans. They were not willing to give in, no matter the cost. When they couldn't continue, a new batch of riders arrived and finished it for them. A whole wave of Freedom Riders began. One moving poster I saw showed the mug shots of hundreds of Freedom Riders who were arrested in Jackson, MS in 1961 labeling them "Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement". And that is exactly what these unknown men and women were. It was powerful for both Jim and me to stand in that alleyway and along side of that highway and ultimately to walk into the Birmingham station and try to imagine both the courage and the sacrifice of those riders...all for the cause of justice and righteousness.
As I stood in that alley and where the bus was bombed I thought of Matthew 5:11-12. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Perhaps we could add, "when people beat you and bomb you and try to burn you alive". They willingly stood up to this horrendous evil they knew was waiting for them no matter the cost. I hope they have experience God's blessing for their sacrifice. We have.
Atlanta to Birmingham through Anniston was a momentous segment of the Freedom Rider's journey. The racist segregationists of Alabama were ready to welcome these rebels who threatened to confront their southern way of living. In the small town of Anniston we found the small alleyway where the Greyhound bus stopped and was immediately surrounded by 50 members of the KKK who, for the 15 minutes the police gave them, attacked the bus breaking windows and slashing tires all the while shouting threats to those on board. The wall of that alley now has a painted Greyhound bus with the question above it, "Could you get on the bus?" Could I? If I were alive then, would I have volunteered to ride...to be threatened...to be beaten? I know what I would like my answer to be. I doubt that would be the honest answer.
From that alley we drove the old Highway 202 six miles out of town where the slashed tires finally gave out. Along the side of that lonely highway the KKK members from Anniston surrounded the bus, forced the door locked and fire bombed it, intending to burn the riders to death.
The parallel Trailways bus was just an hour behind the Greyhound bus. We stopped by the location of the Anniston Trailways bus station where those riders were greeted by segregationist thugs who boarded their bus and beat them before sending them on their way to Birmingham where they where another beating was waiting for them.
Yet, through all of this, every rider from both buses wished to continue their quest through Alabama and down to New Orleans. They were not willing to give in, no matter the cost. When they couldn't continue, a new batch of riders arrived and finished it for them. A whole wave of Freedom Riders began. One moving poster I saw showed the mug shots of hundreds of Freedom Riders who were arrested in Jackson, MS in 1961 labeling them "Heroes of the Civil Rights Movement". And that is exactly what these unknown men and women were. It was powerful for both Jim and me to stand in that alleyway and along side of that highway and ultimately to walk into the Birmingham station and try to imagine both the courage and the sacrifice of those riders...all for the cause of justice and righteousness.
As I stood in that alley and where the bus was bombed I thought of Matthew 5:11-12. "Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." Perhaps we could add, "when people beat you and bomb you and try to burn you alive". They willingly stood up to this horrendous evil they knew was waiting for them no matter the cost. I hope they have experience God's blessing for their sacrifice. We have.
Very moving! Thanks for keeping us informed and for recommending the link regarding the Freedom Riders. Good thoughts on standing beside someone - food for thought and discussion around our family table!
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