Freedom Riders to celebrate 62 year anniversary, provide updates on Gurnee project

May 9—Sixty-two years after the mob violence against bus passengers that put Anniston on the civil rights map, there are still stories to hear, stories to tell.

Two of the men who were the target of that violence, and who can bear witness to some of those stories, Charles Person and Hank Thomas, will be present this Saturday for a Freedom Riders anniversary event at 11th and Gurnee in downtown Anniston.

On May 14, 1961, a pair of buses carrying civil rights activists protesting against segregation on public transportation passed through Anniston. Their goal was to test the rights of Blacks to travel by commercial bus on interstate highways and to sit where they wanted when they did so. One bus was attacked by a white mob, which slashed its tires, bringing it to a halt just west of Anniston. Some in the mob set it afire, and riders escaped the flames coughing and choking on smoke. Even after escaping, Freedom Riders both white and Black were attacked by the mob. Thomas was on that bus, and was beaten after he emerged from its smoking hulk.

The second bus arrived in Anniston later where its passengers were attacked as well by an angry mob who tried to force the Black protesters to the back of the bus and attacked them with blunt weapons.

Charles Person was on the second bus, only 18 years old at the time. His parents knew he was involved with the civil rights movement and had been training in nonviolent protest techniques. When he left for the Freedom Rides, Person admits, "I didn't exactly tell the whole truth." His parents believed he was just going for more training.

When their bus arrived in Anniston, they were told that the first bus had been set on fire. The driver told them that those injured were being "carried out by the carload."

"We were distressed because we knew our friends were on the bus, and there weren't the tools of communication there are today," Person said Tuesday.

Person himself was badly injured during the assault by the angry mob as he took part in the Freedom Ride through Anniston. When he went home to Atlanta, his mother was extremely worried for him.

"The men in the family were OK, but my mother was quite upset," Person said. "So, she gave me another choice — the military."

Person joined the Marines shortly after and served his country for 20 years.

"A lot of the things I learned during the Freedom Ride, I believe kept me alive in Vietnam."

When the 40-year anniversary of the Freedom Ride was first remembered with an event in Anniston, Person didn't even get off the bus; it wasn't until the 50th anniversary that he began to feel the spirit of healing. He'd met the daughter of a man who was involved in the attacks on the Freedom Rider, who showed him a photograph that showed her father attacking Person. The woman apologized for what happened and for what her father had done.

"We all cried and hugged," Person said.

Person said he still maintains a standing invitation to anyone who was involved in the attacks or their living relatives to share a cup of coffee or "an adult beverage" so they can talk.

"I want to know what they did with their lives, and what happened to them after."

The events of the Freedom Ride hold a legacy for Anniston today, with the city being a training site for a new generation of protesters. Person, 80, is now helping to organize what's known as the Freedom Riders Training Institute. The institute is designed to not only teach activists how to effectively protest without violence but also teaches law enforcement on how to deal with these protests in a nonviolent manner. Pete Conroy, the co-chairman of the Freedom Riders Park Committee and one of the organizers of the Freedom Riders Training Institute, believes these efforts are a silver lining. The institute, he said, believes in the right to protest and equips those who seek training with the skills to do so effectively.

Person was spurred to contact Conroy to throw around ideas for the institute after seeing the chaos that ensued during protests against the killing of George Floyd. Person said he believes such turmoil only distracts from the issues underlying the protest itself.

"I was so upset at all the violence," Person said. "And so I called Pete and we began talking about what we could do."

"This has been something that has made what the Freedom Riders did very, very current," Conroy said, "We're working in Atlanta, in Seattle, Portland, all over and it's all coming out of Anniston, Alabama."

Those who attend the Freedom Riders anniversary event Saturday will be able to hear updates on the Gurnee Avenue site developments, including what's going on with the planned park and The Freedom Center. Person and Thomas will be the special guests of the evening. Music will be provided by KB Solomon, a native of Anniston who has traveled the world as a basso profundo opera singer. The celebration will take place at 11th and Gurnee Avenue from 4-7 p.m. with the ceremony kicking off at 5 p.m. In case of inclement weather, the event will be held at the First United Methodist Church three blocks to the north.