The Second Wave

On May 14, 1961, a Greyhound bus carrying Freedom Riders was firebombed outside Anniston, Alabama. In Birmingham, riders were beaten with pipes and chains while police stood absent. The original thirteen riders, organized by CORE director James Farmer, were too battered to continue. It appeared that violence had won — that segregation on interstate buses would stand unchallenged. Then Diane Nash picked up the phone.…