Freedom Riders Hezekiah Watkins and Fred Douglas Clark encouraged students to actively seek social change during their appearance at the 14th annual African American Heritage Month Colloquium, which was sponsored by the UA School of Social Work.
The fight that civil rights activists of the 1960s waged against injustice continues today, two Freedom Riders told students and professors at the University of Alabama on Friday.
Freedom Riders Hezekiah Watkins and Fred Douglas Clark encouraged students to actively seek social change during their appearance at the 14th annual African American Heritage Month Colloquium, which was sponsored by the UA School of Social Work.
The Freedom Riders defied segregated seating rules in the 1960s South by riding Greyhound buses contrary to the rules of the time: White Freedom Riders sat in the back of the bus and blacks in the front.
The riders continued their protest despite being beaten and jailed.
Their efforts forced a ruling in September 1961 that declared segregated seating of interstate passengers unconstitutional.
Clark said that if young people don't know about the civil rights struggle, students "wouldn't be able to pick up where he left off."
Hearing about the Freedom Riders' experiences helps students better understand their role in the fight for civil rights today, social work instructor Marcia Winter said.
The school brought Watkins and Clark to the colloquium after Lynn Tobola, a librarian in the School of Social Work, found their names on the Internet and decided their comments would be relevant to students interested in a career helping others.
"Social justice is one of the things [social workers] are responsible for advancing forward," said Jo Pryce, associate professor of social work and an organizer of Friday's event.
Watkins said he was inspired to protest after seeing his mother forced to give up her seat on a bus to a young white girl.
As a Freedom Rider, he was jailed more than 100 times for trying to buy bus tickets at white ticket counters and sitting in whites-only diners.
He wears false teeth and still suffers from migraine headaches from a beating he took during the protests.
Graduate student Heather Ryerson said that being familiar with the civil rights struggles of the past helps her better understand the people she helps now.
"It will help me treat them more effectively," she said.
"We don't get rights naturally; someone has struggled for it," Winter said. "If you understand history, you don't take things for granted."
Reach Marla Luster at 345-0505, Ext. 256.