Let justice roll down like water, righteousness like a mighty stream.
For our grandsons and granddaughters remember to remember the dream
Welcome to Songs and Stories from Home as we continue to Remember the Dream. This week: The Freedom Rides
We are at a moment, a crossroads, in our nation’s history where we have an opportunity to open our eyes and ears and hearts – to decide – once again – by our words and through our deeds – whether we (as our founding documents declare) truly want to create a more perfect union or when we pledge allegiance to the flag whether we actually mean it when we end that pledge “with liberty and justice for all.”
George Santayana famously wrote that those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. I would posit that by remembering our past we may learn from it and together help bend the arc of the moral universe toward justice.
The Civil Rights Movement of the 1950’s and 60’s is rife with examples of those trained in nonviolence who often faced violence while doing their part to bend the arc.
If the Sit-ins are examples of people saying we want justice in our towns and cities, the Freedom Rides may be seen as people imagining justice in and for this nation as a whole.
In 1946, in the Morgan vs. Virginia case, the Supreme Court declared it was unconstitutional to have segregated seating on Interstate buses. In 1960, in Boynton vs. Virginia, the Supreme Court announced interstate transportation facilities, including bus terminals, must be integrated. The Freedom Rides were organized to test the laws of the land and to make this country answer the question: on which side of Liberty and Justice for All will we choose to land. Questions we are asking and choices we are continuing to make today.
Let justice roll down like water, righteousness like a mighty stream.
For our grandsons and granddaughters remember to remember the dream
