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Freedom Rides

Freedom Rider Catherine Burks-Brooks dies at age 83

LaTonya Turner

July 9, 2023

Dr. Catherine Burks-Brooks, a member of the Freedom Riders with a Nashville connection, has died at age 83. Burks-Brooks was among the Nashville students who joined the original 13 Freedom Riders in May 1961, after violent attacks by white mobs in Alabama.

Filed Under: History, WPLN News Tagged With: civil rights movement, Freedom Rides, Nashville

Diane Nash says she shares her Presidential Medal of Freedom with everyone who ‘sacrificed so much for the cause’

Marianna Bacallao

July 7, 2022

Diane Nash with Joe Biden

President Biden presented a Nashville Civil Rights leader with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at the White House Thursday.

Filed Under: WPLN News Tagged With: civil rights, Diane Nash, Freedom Rides, Joe Biden, presidential medal of freedom

Exploring the legacy of Nashville’s Freedom Riders

Rose Gilbert

May 17, 2022

Listen

In today’s episode, we explore the legacy of Nashville’s Freedom Riders with poets and a journalist. Then we’re joined by a local Civil Rights activist to learn more about her participation in the sit-ins and the role that education plays in preserving the legacy of the Civil Rights Movement.

Filed Under: Programs Tagged With: civil rights, civil rights movement, Freedom Rides

Rip Patton, Who Shared Stories And Songs About The Freedom Rides, Dies At 81

Emily Siner

August 25, 2021

Lifelong Nashville resident and activist Earnest Rip Patton has died. He was best known for his role in the Freedom Rides, the student movement to desegregate interstate buses in the South.

Filed Under: Race & Equity, WPLN News Tagged With: civil rights movement, Freedom Rides, history

Kwame Lillard, Nashville Civil Rights Leader And Former Metro Councilmember, Dies At 81

Nina Cardona

December 21, 2020

Kwame Lillard, a Nashville Civil Rights leader and former member of the Metro Council, has died. Lillard grew up in segregated North Nashville. In the 1960s, he was a key organizer for the city’s sit-ins and the leader of a protest to integrate city-run swimming pools. He also coordinated, trained and provided logistical support to […]

Filed Under: Race & Equity, WPLN News Tagged With: civil rights movement, Freedom Rides, Kwame Lillard, Nashville Metro Council

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