Freedom Riders Doc.

The freedom riders documentary was very eye opening to me. When learning about freedom riders in high school, I never learned that much information. I was never taught about different groups of freedom riders that would come to finish the journey or just come from different parts of the country in support. I was never taught about the extensive training they went through or the suffering they endured while on the bus rides. I was shocked. I became emotional a couple times during the documentary and had to take a break to regather my thoughts. I constantly was thinking what I would have done if I was in that situation and I never was able to settle on an answer for that. I do not know how I would have reacted, or if I would have been able to attempt to do the journey in the first place. Watching this documentary made me realize how terrible African Americans were treated, and even through all of that they persisted. The freedom riders were some of the most powerful, strong, inspirational people that came out of the civil rights movement. They dealt with being hit with bats, being called names, almost being lit on fire, being murdered, and anything else you can think of without fighting back. The pain they could have felt is unimaginable. But, through all of that their movement was a success with Southern states finally ending bus segregation, it also was said that their movement directly inspired the Kennedy's to give his 1963 speech. This documentary though emotional, was very informative and made me really think about how I would have reacted in this situation.

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