The Freedom Riders were civil rights activists who rode buses through the segregated South in 1961 to challenge the non-enforcement of Supreme Court decisions that had declared segregated buses unconstitutional. The riders were both Black and white activists who aimed to test and challenge the segregation laws still in place in states like Alabama and Mississippi.

The Freedom Riders faced violent opposition from white segregationists, who firebombed their buses and beat the riders. Despite the dangers they faced, the Freedom Riders persisted in their mission to bring attention to the injustice of segregation and to push for the enforcement of desegregation laws.

Their actions drew national and international attention to the civil rights movement and put pressure on the federal government to take action to enforce desegregation laws. The Freedom Rides were instrumental in bringing about change and advancing the cause of civil rights in the United States.