Freedom Bus Goes To Richmond School
News Articles
05/18/2011
“Freedom Rider” Who Helped Desegregate Public Transportation Will Speak
On Thursday May 19, 2011, the AC Transit Freedom Bus will extend its community outreach to Richmond’s Kennedy High School in an ongoing, unprecedented effort to integrate art, education, civil rights and public transportation.
Church, community and locally elected leaders will join Richmond school officials for an event that will highlight the importance of public transportation and emphasize the agency’s resolve to provide critical bus service to the North Richmond community.
The occasion will also be used to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the “Freedom Riders,” young civil rights activists who rode buses across the then segregated southern states. They risked their lives to desegregate restaurants and waiting rooms at bus depots, testing the validity of America’s civil rights laws. Elizabeth Hirshfeld, a “Freedom Rider” who also served as a driver for civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, will speak about those times and the use of public buses in the fight for civil rights.
When: Thursday, May 19th from 6 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
What: The Freedom Bus will be part of a parents’ “Open House” night at Kennedy High School, taking the opportunity to stress the need for Rosa-Parks-like community involvement to help preserve safe, reliable bus service.
Who: “Freedom Rider” Elizabeth Hirshfeld; AC Transit Director Joe Wallace; AC Transit Director Joel Young; and Community Representatives.
Where: Kennedy High School, 4300 Cutting Boulevard, Richmond, CA.
With colorful student art depicting the 1955 Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott on the outside, and prize-winning student art on the inside, the Freedom Bus honors that historic bus protest spurred by Rosa Parks, and pioneers like Claudette Colvin.
The Freedom Bus demonstrates the learning and personal growth of students when they have the opportunity to study relevant and important topics, make their own meaning artistically, and share their creative ideas with real audiences. The goal is to promote the understanding and teaching of civil rights history through the arts, as well as emphasize the critical role public transit continues to play in ensuring equal access.
“Considering that a passenger on a public bus was the catalyst for a civil rights movement, it is only fitting that AC Transit be a part of this historic educational project,” said AC Transit Interim General Manager Mary King. “But it is also important for the community to be involved– to acknowledge the sacrifices and struggles of those who were jailed and beaten so that all people have equal access to bus services and seats regardless of where they live or the color of their skin.”
The event follows a similar tour of three East Bay schools and a community celebration in downtown Oakland that drew nearly 200 people to launch the bus as a tribute to America’s Civil Rights movement.
About The Freedom Bus Project
The Freedom Bus Project was launched by AC Transit and the Alameda County Office of Education, in association with Art IS Education and West Contra Costa Unified School District, to celebrate the 55th Anniversary of Rosa Parks’ historic bus ride in Montgomery, Alabama, which ignited the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott and the Civil Rights Movement. This collaborative, interagency project recognizes the important role that individuals and public transit have played in civil rights movements, celebrates the East Bay’s rich diversity and legacy of community activism, and engages youth to learn about this legacy and express their visions for social justice through the arts.