Freedom Riders Recognition Resolution of 2026

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A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION

26-150

IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

May 5, 2026

To recognize and honor the Freedom Riders, civil rights activists who risked their lives to travel
to Southern states in protest of racial segregation.

WHEREAS, the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) was founded in 1942 by James
Farmer to combat racial injustice and end discriminatory laws throughout the United States;

WHEREAS, the mission of CORE was to bring equality for all, regardless of race, sex,
age, disability, sexual orientation, or religious or ethnic background;

WHEREAS, Supreme Court rulings in Morgan v. Virginia in 1946, Gayle v. Browder in
1956, and Boynton v. Virginia in 1960 overturned state laws permitting segregation on interstate
buses and in bus terminals;

WHEREAS, these rulings proceeded to be openly and brazenly violated, with opponents
coordinating political strategies of massive resistance, enforcing Jim Crow laws, and attacking
and murdering those who resisted;

WHEREAS, from April 9th to April 23rd, 1947, sixteen members of CORE participated in
the Journey of Reconciliation, embarking on buses from Washington, D.C. and traveling through
Virginia, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Kentucky in open defiance of state laws requiring
passengers to sit in designated areas according to their race;

WHEREAS, Black and white participants who refused to move faced assaults and arrests,
with three participants in the Journey of Reconciliation ultimately being sentenced to work in
segregated chain gangs;

WHEREAS, in response to continued defiance of Supreme Court rulings, CORE
organized the Freedom Rides in 1961, with the first bus departing from Washington D.C. on
May 4th and additional trips planned through the end of the year;

WHEREAS, the Freedom Riders faced violent mob attacks, often supported by the
police, including several attacks in which assailants threw firebombs into the buses in an attempt
to burn occupants alive;
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WHEREAS, international press coverage of the Freedom Rides led to criticism and
condemnation of the U.S., with countries including France, the Soviet Union, the People’s
Republic of China, and Mexico arguing that racism belied American claims of a free and
democratic society;

WHEREAS, organizers rejected the federal administration’s request for a “cooling off
period,” instead escalating the campaign with more than sixty rides organized throughout the
summer months of 1961;

WHEREAS, in the month of July, 1961, more than 300 Freedom Riders were
incarcerated simultaneously;

WHEREAS, 75% of Freedom Riders ultimately were arrested for refusing to comply
with segregation laws;

WHEREAS, amongst others, DC-area natives Joan Trumpauer Mulholland, Genevieve
Hughes Houghton, and Gwendolyn T. Britt participated in the Freedom Rides;

WHEREAS, amongst others, Howard University students Hank Thomas, John Moody,
Kwame Ture, and Dion Diamond participated in the Freedom Rides;

WHEREAS, the Freedom Singers amplified the messages of the civil rights movement
through gospel music and call-and-response spirituals, performing across the country and before
a crowd of more than 250,000 at the March on Washington in August 1963;

WHEREAS, throughout the civil rights movement, CORE and other organizations,
including the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating
Committee, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, organized acts
of civil disobedience in the form of sit-ins, bus boycotts, and public marches and demonstrations;

WHEREAS, Black Americans have continued to fight for racial equality, opposing state-
imposed voting laws, voter suppression efforts, segregation in public schools, educational
discrimination, housing discrimination, employment discrimination, and other forms of legal and
illegal injustice.

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RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That this
resolution may be cited as the “Freedom Riders Recognition Resolution of 2026”.

Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia hereby recognizes all the Freedom
Riders who fought against racism and segregation, courageously facing violence and arrests, and
risking their lives to ensure a better, more equitable future.

Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately.