"Freedom Riders" is a special two-hour episode of the acclaimed PBS history series "American Experience.’ It will be broadcast on Monday, May 16, at 9 p.m., by UNC-TV, North Carolina’s statewide public television network.
Freedom Riders on PBS – Click Here to Learn More
The full "Freedom Riders" documentary is based on Raymond Arsenault’s book "Freedom Riders: 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice." It tells the story of six months in 1961 when more than 400 black and white Americans risked their lives by deliberately violating Jim Crow laws as they traveled through the Deep South. The film incorporates testimony from some of the riders, who countered racism and mob violence with nonviolent activism.
From award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson ("Wounded Knee," "Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple," The Murder of Emmett Till") "Freedom Riders" features testimony from central characters including the riders themselves, state and federal government officials, and journalists who witnessed the events firsthand.
