Freedom Rider Catherine Burks-Brooks held onto her wooden cane while sitting on the couch at her Birmingham home. The cane looks like it’s been through a history like hers. She is a striking woman with big eyes and a bigger smile, and her wrinkled but graceful fingers are loaded with big silver rings, each telling a once-upon-a-time tale. Her gaze is sharp, and her speech determined. Catherine may be 82, but she might as well be ageless.
The life of Catherine could be summarized with two words: hope and reconciliation. She has held onto those qualities ever since spending a youthful year riding a bus across the Southern states to protest segregated transportation laws.
“My story begins with that ride out of Nashville when I was 20. I was a student at Tennessee State [University], and I had always wanted to do something. Things weren’t right, and I knew to be outspoken, but in a peaceful way.”
Catherine peered at a mugshot taken when the police arrested her in Jackson, Mississippi, for refusing to get off the bus. The photo is a reminder of what had to happen to a few, so that the many can enjoy today’s freedoms.
“I spent about a month in jail, and I remember when they took this picture. The man held the camera, and a big flashbulb went off,” Catherine said. “I was arrested several times over the year I rode the bus, but it didn’t scare me. I wasn’t going to stop. Someone had to tell the world we weren’t treated right.”
The Freedom Rides of 1961 took place from May to September, with more than 60 rides across the South. Around 400 black Americans traveled along with whites to protest Jim Crow laws that segregated people by race on public transportation and in other public settings. There were hundreds of arrests of peaceful protesters riding buses. Eventually, with pressure from President John F. Kennedy, Southern states stopped the segregation laws, and the Federal Interstate Commerce Commission outlawed segregation on interstate mass transit.
Dorothy Walker is the site director of the Freedom Rides Museum in Montgomery, Alabama. “What the Freedom Riders did in 1961 changed how American citizens get to travel throughout the country, and many people do not know this story. The Freedom Rides were a watershed event in American history and the U.S. Civil Rights Movement,” she said.
Catherine reflects on that period with the same grace that carried her through those tough years. Every time she spoke of her journey, she did with resolve while gazing into the distance—perhaps still looking for the destination of the bus.
“I’m glad that we played a role in changing history. Things are better now, and my daughter doesn’t have to sit in the back of the bus, you know?” Catherine said. “She doesn’t have to drink from a separate water fountain, and she doesn’t have to wait in a separate waiting room. It was all worth it. There’s still work to be done.”
Changing history did not come cheap. When the first Freedom Ride arrived in Anniston, Alabama, on May 4th, 1961, angry protesters attacked the bus, busting the windows and slashing the tires. There were several other attacks in different cities, but the Freedom Riders continued their journey toward equality.
“I grew up in that mess,” Catherine said. ”I had to walk farther to school and take two buses. I never liked it, so when the Freedom Rides happened, that was my chance to be part of history.”
Catherine appreciates the outcome of the Freedom Rides. “Black people realized they could organize and do things. They found out they could change history. We never thought that before, but after the bus rides, good things started happening.” Catherine lowered her gaze at her hands holding her worn-out wooden cane. Then, she rubbed her wrinkled fingers together. ”All the results of the Freedom Rides, all the history-changing, and all of the arrests and sacrifices have led to two things we sure are enjoying today: hope and reconciliation.”
