Convicted on "breach of peace" and jailed, most refused bail and were sent to the state penitentiary. That summer 329 people were arrested in Jackson for integrating public transportation facilities. The first two came on Trailways buses May 24. , (front), On May 28, 1961, a Greyhound bus with nine Freedom Riders aboard arrived here, the third group of Riders into Jackson. That's what a lot of them died for.Greyhound Bus Station. "I want all of them to take advantage of the privilege they have today that we didn't have," Watkins said. Many of the children who listen are 13 years old themselves, some older, some younger. I never ever, ever, ever want to go there." Flash forward to today, and Watkins is a grandfatherly figure at the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum.Īs a museum docent, Civil Rights thought leader and speaker, and living part of history, one of his greatest enjoyments is getting to teach younger generations the importance of embracing the past to create a better future. As we speak, I would do it all over again right now. Kennedy.įrom that moment forward, Watkins devoted much of his life to pursuing equality and Civil Rights, getting arrested more than 130 times, often with excessive force. Ross Barnett, who ordered his discharge at the behest of late President John F. He was eventually released by then Mississippi Gov. "I try not to even think about it even now," Watkins said. He endured "unthinkable" conditions for five days with no due process. Thinking that he was from up North like many of the other riders, he was quickly ushered away from the station and taken to the infamous Parchman Prison.Īt just 13, he was Mississippi's youngest Freedom Rider to be arrested and put on death row. And when I said Milwaukee, he said out loud, 'I have another one over here!'" I told him I was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Before he could exit, a security officer caught up with him and asked for his name and birthplace. However, their fun quickly ended when Watkins' friend jokingly pushed him into the doors of the Greyhound station and ran off. They began playing on the sidewalk, running up and down, drinking out of "White's Only" water fountains, and embracing their newfound freedom. The boys bicycled down to the bus station, only to find that the Freedom Riders had already been rounded up and arrested. "My mother came and checked on me before she left she stuck her head back in the door and said, 'Boy, don't leave this house.' I said, 'Yes, ma'am.' After she left, my friend ran over." So much so that they concocted a plan to fake a stomach bug after church one day to sneak out and see the activists themselves as they traveled through downtown Jackson's Greyhound station. He didn't know it at the time, but he was witnessing some of the movements of the Freedom Riders, groups of black and white activists who participated in "Freedom Rides" throughout the American South to protest segregated bus terminals.Īfter being met with hesitant responses from his mother and school teachers when asking about the Freedom Riders, he and his friend's curiosity grew. He had never seen anything like it in his young life. My friend who didn't have a TV, I told him about it, and he would come to my house and watch it along with me. I'm thinking it's a continuation of a movie segment, but it was news that was happening." I saw individuals being beaten, kicked, spat on, watered down with hoses. I was at a loss, and I didn't know what was happening. That was until one day when he awoke from a nap to see The Birmingham Campaign marching across his screen, with protestors encountering brutality in their pursuit of Civil Rights. "I was a kid who would watch TV every day, the cartoons and cowboy pictures." "I was unaware of the racism, the bigotry inflicted on blacks during that time," Watkins said.
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