Twelve Days in May: "Beyond Birmingham"–"The Thirteen Freedom Riders"

by Larry Dane Brimner
Richly illustrated with archival photos, this book offers an account of the 1961 Freedom Ride, a protest of unconstitutional racial segregation on buses.

This list covers "Beyond Birmingham"–"The Thirteen Freedom Riders."

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. pacifist
    someone opposed to violence as a means of settling disputes
    CORE'S parent organization, a pacifist group called the Fellowship of Reconciliation (FOR), agreed. The idea of a peaceful, interracial bus ride was born—the Journey of Reconciliation.
  2. basis
    a relation that provides the foundation for something
    Farmer organized Freedom Ride 1961 to draw attention to the fact that laws still were not being followed and that people, on the basis of their skin color, were being treated as second-class citizens.
  3. pact
    a written agreement between two states or sovereigns
    In line with the unwritten pact between CORE and SNCC that neither organization would move in on the other's project without permission, Diane said to me, 'Your group of Freedom Riders are so badly chewed up that they cannot go on now. Would you have any objections to members of the Nashville Student Movement, which is SNCC, going in and taking up the Ride where CORE left off?'
  4. dedicated
    devoted to a cause or ideal or purpose
    A founding member of CORE, a racially mixed group dedicated to nonviolence and ending segregation, Farmer became its national director in February 1961.
  5. discipline
    a system of rules of conduct or method of practice
    Immediately, he set about organizing the ride and interviewing participants to make sure they could follow the Gandhian discipline of nonviolence.
  6. conscientious
    guided by or in accordance with a sense of right and wrong
    Peck was a conscientious objector during World War II and an antiwar, antinuclear activist.
  7. enlist
    join the military
    Originally from Owensboro, Kentucky, he studied at Kentucky State University in Frankfort before enlisting in the army in 1954, where he served two years as a medical technician.
  8. devout
    deeply religious
    The son of a Harvard-educated lawyer, Bigelow became a devout Quaker and pacifist after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II.
  9. douse
    wet thoroughly
    Ed Blankenheim and Hank Thomas douse their eyes with water brought to them by Janie Miller on May 14.
  10. reliable
    able to be depended on; consistent or steady
    McDonald participated in a number of CORE-sponsored direct-action campaigns, but James Farmer considered him to be the least reliable rider because he wasn't committed to Gandhi's nonviolent philosophy.
  11. committed
    bound or obligated, as under a pledge to a cause or action
    McDonald participated in a number of CORE-sponsored direct-action campaigns, but James Farmer considered him to be the least reliable rider because he wasn't committed to Gandhi's nonviolent philosophy.
  12. impoverished
    poor enough to need help from others
    Thomas was a native of rural Florida and one of eleven children in an impoverished family with an abusive father.
  13. civic
    of or relating to or befitting citizens as individuals
    Today, he is a civic leader and businessman in Atlanta, Georgia, where he lives with his wife.
  14. mentor
    a wise and trusted guide and advisor
    In the 1980s, after retiring, he returned to Atlanta, where he volunteers as a tutor and mentor for high-school students.
  15. conviction
    a final judgment of guilty in a criminal case
    Despite having stopped the march one hundred feet from the courthouse, he was convicted on all three charges. In a case known as Cox v. Louisiana, his convictions were overturned in 1965 by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Created on Fri Nov 09 09:45:25 EST 2018 (updated Fri Jun 20 15:10:24 EDT 2025)

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