FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Friday, October 26, 2012
CONTACT: Barbara Lau, 919/613-6167, balau@duke.edu,
www.paulimurrayproject.org
WOMEN WALKING TO COMMEMORATE THE FIRST FREEDOM RIDE
SATURDAY, NOVEMBER 3 FROM DURHAM TO CHAPEL HILL
DURHAM, N.C. –Nine Women’s teams will be walking from the Pauli Murray Historic Marker in
Durham to the Journey of Reconciliation Historic Marker in Chapel Hill to commemorate the 65th
Anniversary of the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation, the “First Freedom Ride.” The nine teams
replicates the number of teams of bus riders who tested the 1946 Irene Morgan v State of
Virginia U.S. Supreme Court ruling that desegregated interstate buses. Women are walking
because the 1947 riders were black and white men. Through this walk we will connect with our
history and inspire contemporary activism.
The STILL WALKING FOR JUSTICE Send Off Rally is scheduled for 10 a.m. in the shadow of
the Pauli Murray Historic Marker at the corner of W. Chapel Hill and Carroll Streets in Durham.
The Welcome Rally will take at place at 3:30 p.m. at the Inter-Faith Council, 100 W. Rosemary
at N. Columbia Street directly across the street from the Journey of Reconciliation Historic
Marker in Chapel Hill.
“The Pauli Murray Project recognizes the importance of honoring the women who have risked
their safety by protesting for justice,” says director Barbara Lau, “and we want to highlight the
courage of our local female activists as well.”
Each walker will be wearing a bright yellow t-shirts bearing the name of a female activist such
as Pauli Murray, Ella Baker and Juanita Nelson, who helped plan the 1947 action but could not
participate or Virginia Williams, Joan P. Preiss, Joyce Ware, Ann Atwater and Doris Lyons, local
women activists whose stories deserve more attention. Folks attending the send off rally will
also be invited to call out the names of women and men who have inspired them to social
justice activism.
The 1947 Journey of Reconciliation, known as the First Freedom Ride, used non-violent direct
action on buses along routes in the Upper South states of Virginia, North Carolina, Kentucky
and Tennessee. Organized by the Fellowship of Reconciliation and the Congress of Racial
Equality, the courageous protesters rode in pairs or trios as interstate passengers. To test the
law, they sat next to one another in the white section of the bus and waited for reactions from
the bus driver and other officials.
For the most part the reaction to the freedom rides was also not violent. But in Chapel Hill, North
Carolina, a white mob attacked one rider and four others were arrested and sentenced to 30
days on a chain gang, an event now commemorated by a NC state highway historic marker.
One of those arrested in Chapel Hill was black gay pacifist Bayard Rustin who went on to
coordinate the historic 1963 March on Washington where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his
iconic "I Have a Dream" speech.
"Bayard Rustin and Pauli Murray were civil rights pioneers who knew each other and worked
together including the 1947 Journey,” says Mandy Carter coordinator of the Bayard Rustin
Centennial Project of the National Black Justice Coalition, "so, we're really excited to be
partnering with the Pauli Murray Project." The Journey inspired a younger generation who used
this same tactic during the well documented1961 Freedom Rides that transformed the Civil
Rights Movement.
Struggles for civil and human rights continue--voting rights, prisoners’ rights, immigrant rights,
women’s rights and the rights of lesbian, gay, bi-sexual, transgender and queer people are still
on the line and require our vigilance to protect them. In a 1980 interview with Ms. Magazine,
Pauli Murray took the long view saying, “I’ve been both a winner and a loser, but after I lose
someone else wins, because this is a relay race.”
The November 3 Walk is sponsored by the Pauli Murray Project and the Bayard Rustin
Centennial Project of the National Black Justice Coalition with support from the Chapel Hill
Friends Meeting, the Southern Oral History Program at UNC-CH, Carolwoods Elders for Peace
and the Marion Cheek Jackson Center for Saving and Making History. The is being presented
in collaboration with a series of programs focused on Civil Rights in Chapel Hill. For more
information about the Chapel Hill events, go to: www.jacksoncenter.info/events
Brief Biographies:
Ann Atwater: A single mother, Ann became an activist when she learned how to demand
repairs from her landlord before paying back rent. She was recruited by Operation Breakthrough
as a community organizer and quickly became a leader of the Housing Committee for United
Operations. She gained tremendous expertise about public housing regulations making her an
extremely effective advocate for lower income families in Durham. Ann’s transformative
relationship with Klu Klux Klan leader C. P. Ellis was chronicled in a film, An Unlikely Friendship,
and a book, Best of Enemies. More information
Ella Baker: An activist for more than five decades, Ella Baker is perhaps best known as the
“godmother” of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) where she mentored
an entire generation of young leaders in the Civil Rights Movement. The way she understood,
expressed, and advocated for participatory democracy and grassroots leadership has
influenced countless radical and progressive organizations formed after she began organizing in
the 1930's. A North Carolina State Highway historic marker was recently dedicated to Ella Baker
in Littleton. More information
Doris Lyon: In 1943, 16 year-old Doris Lyon refused to give up her seat to a white patron and
move to the back of a Durham City bus. A police detective assaulted her while forcibly removing
her from the bus despite her efforts to resist his physical advances. Both black and white
community members rallied around her but she was convicted of assault and battery and fined
for breaking North Carolina’s segregation laws. More information
Irene Morgan: As a young mother Irene Morgan was arrested for violating segregation laws
and resisting arrest when she refused to give up her seat on an interstate Virginia to Maryland
bus. The NAACP took her case all the way to the Supreme Court and won a 1946 decision
named for Ms. Morgan that made forced segregation of interstate buses illegal. President Bill
Clinton awarded Morgan the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2001 to recognize her early victory
in the civil rights movement. More information
Juanita Morrow Nelson: Juanita Morrow joined Pauli Murray and other Howard University
students when, in 1943, they sat in at a Washington DC cafeteria to protest segregation. As a
journalist, she met Wally Nelson, one of the 1947 Freedom riders. They married and worked
together against war, promoting peace and non-violence. Her book, A Matter of Freedom and
Other Writings, was published in 1988. More information
Pauli Murray: Recently named a saint by the Episcopal Church, Pauli Murray spent her life
advocating for justice and equality for everyone. She worked as a writer, attorney, feminist,
educator, poet and priest to promote an inclusive movement for social change. She was a
consummate researcher whose written works in law, history, and memoire demonstrate her
political astuteness and vision for an organizing effort linking communities who experience the
overlapping oppressions of racism, feminism and homophobia. More information
Joan P. Preiss: A long-time advocate for improving conditions for migrant farm workers, Joan
was the heart and soul of the Triangle Friends of the United Farm Workers. She was a fearless
protester known for the “pickle tiara” she donned while greeting shoppers during the boycott of
Mt. Olive Pickles at local grocery stores. As her activism grew, she became secretary of the
North Carolina Pesticide Board and served on the Executive Committee of the National Farm
Worker Ministry. More information
Joyce Ware: As the leader of the NAACP student chapter at North Carolina College, Joyce
Ware activated young people as soldiers in the Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina. With a
list of demands in hand, the students and others threatened 30 days of street actions and
mobilized massive demonstrations in 1963 to protest segregated restaurants, stores, motels
and theaters and employment discrimination. Joyce Ware and Floyd McKissick Sr. chaired the
negotiating committee and they forced Durham Mayor Wense Graberak to work with local
businesses to step up the pace of integration. More information
Virginia Williams: In 1957, Virginia Williams and six others staged a sit in at Durham’s Royal
Ice Cream Parlor. The Royal Seven, included two other women, Mary Clyburn and Vivian
Jones, were arrested for trespassing, convicted the next day and fined $10. Their case was
appealed up to the NC Supreme Court, which upheld their convictions. Virginia was inspired by
her father’s early involvement in the NAACP in northeastern North Carolina. She participated
throughout her life in many other protests including the 1963 March on Washington. More
information
-30-