Diane Nash - Freedom Rides

Freedom Rides

"We will not stop. There is only one outcome," stated Diane Nash, referring to the Freedom Rides she was participating in. The Freedom Rides is a time in history that can never be forgotten. Anyone black or white who was around during the time of the Freedom Rides knows that it was a very powerful and compelling movement. When Nash and her fellow students discovered that the Freedom Riders had decided to cut their trip short at the Birmingham stop, the Nashville students promptly decided that they would finish the trip. The students and she were committed, ready, and willing. "It was clear to me that if we allowed the Freedom Ride to stop at that point, just after so much violence had been inflicted, the message would have been sent that all you have to do to stop a nonviolent campaign is inflict massive violence," says Nash. So it was decided, in 1961, Nash took over responsibility and led the Freedom Rides from Birmingham, Alabama to Jackson, Mississippi.

The rides had been conceived by the Congress of Racial Equality, but after severe attacks, CORE's leader James L. Farmer, Jr. was hesitant to continue them. Nash talked with the students compromising the Nashville Student Movement and argued that, "We can’t let them stop us with violence. If we do, the movement is dead." Nash was just a student at Fisk University, about to appear in the public eye as both a leader, and a very powerful woman. Diane Nash had spoken with John Seigenthaler on the phone, as Seigenthaler tried to convince Nash that the outcome of her continuance with the Freedom Rides could result in death and violence, Nash didn't hesitate to respond. She simply responded with "We know someone will be killed, but we cannot let violence overcome nonviolence." Nash explained to Seigenthaler that the students and she had already signed their last will and testament. John Lewis, who had just returned from participating in the Freedom Ride, agreed, as did the rest of the students, and they continued the action to a successful conclusion. Without Diane Nash and SNCC's sending down of additional Freedom Riders to fill the empty bus seats, the Freedom Rides may have dead-ended in Alabama.

When Nash was bringing a batch of students to Birmingham to continue the Ride, she telephoned Fred Shuttlesworth to inform him. He responded to her sternly: "Young lady, do you know that the Freedom Riders were almost killed here?" Nash assured him that she did and that that would not stop her from continuing the ride. After gathering the final list of riders, she placed a phone call to Shuttlesworth. They knew their phone line had been tapped by local police, so they worked out a set a of coded messages related to, of all things, poultry. For instance, "Roosters" were substituted for male Freedom Riders, "hens" for female riders and so on. When Nash called Shuttlesworth again on Wednesday morning to tell him "The chickens are boxed," he knew that the freedom riders were on their way.

On May 20, 1961, when all the other riders had left the bus terminal, five of the female riders phoned Shuttlesworth, who relayed their whereabouts to Diane Nash. Others called Nash directly, to inform her of the chaotic situation that just happened. Fearing that all the riders were now subject to arrest, Nash advised them to stay out of sight from the police, but this was compromised by Wilbur and Hermann, who had called the police after fleeing from the terminal area.

If it weren't for Nash, the Freedom Rides wouldn't have succeeded as they did. It was with the help of Nash and her fellow students who accompanied her on that memorable day that the Freedom Rides succeeded. Without all factions working together to seek a change in the south, the Freedom Rides would never have continued and gained so much attention and respect from so many other people.