freedom ride

or Freedom Ride

noun

1. (especially in the 1960s) a bus trip made to parts of the southern U.S. by persons engaging in efforts to integrate racially segregated public facilities.

Other Words From

• freedomrider noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of freedom ride¹

An Americanism dating back to 1960–65

Example Sentences

When the first Freedom Ride was derailed by mob violence, a small group of Nashville students trained by Lawson completed the dangerous bus trip from Montgomery, Ala., to Jackson, Miss. Lawson accompanied them and was arrested along with other Freedom Riders in Mississippi after some of the protesters entered the whites-only restrooms at the Jackson terminal.

From Los Angeles Times

Lawson was a pivotal figure in some of the most important campaigns of the movement, including the Nashville lunch counter sit-ins, the first Freedom Ride and the social justice battles he led as pastor of Holman United Methodist Church in L.A.

From Los Angeles Times

And before we allow volunteers to get on a Freedom Ride bus, each one has to write a will and a last letter to parents, to ensure they understand what they are getting into.

From Salon

It turned out the snake had given up its freedom ride and crawled back to its terrarium.

From Seattle Times

During a meeting with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and several other civil rights leaders in Washington that summer, the normally reserved Mr. Sherrod exploded in anger when Kennedy tried to persuade them to drop the Freedom Ride strategy.

From New York Times