Biography

May 15, 1938 · Chicago, Illinois, USA

[7 July 2022] Awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Joe Biden in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House.

She attended Howard University (Washington DC) and Fisk University (Nashville).

Co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), and leader of the 1960 Nashville sit-ins and of the 1961 Freedom Ride from Nashville to Birmingham, Alabama.

Participated in the first Freedom Ride in Spring 1961.

It was clear to me that if we allowed the Freedom Ride to stop at that point, just after so much violence had been inflicted, the message would have been sent that all you have to do to stop a nonviolent campaign is inflict massive violence.