Little Brother Ms. Galvez Quotes

Ms. Galvez

Quote 1

[Ms. Galvez:] "The students at Berkeley sent a steady stream of freedom riders south, and they recruited them from information tables on campus, at Bancroft and Telegraph Avenue. You've probably seen that there are still tables there to this day.

"Well, the campus tried to shut them down. The president of the university banned political organizing on campus, but the civil rights kids wouldn't stop. The police tried to arrest a guy who was handing out literature from one of these tables, and they put him in a van, but 3,000 students surrounded the van and refused to let it budge. They wouldn't let them take this kid to jail. They stood on top of the van and gave speeches about the First Amendment and Free Speech. (11.112-113)

Freedom riders in 1961 furthered desegregation in the United States. Some riders' buses were attacked by mobs and burned; hundreds of riders were arrested. You can see some of their mug shots and learned what happened to them here.