RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Forty college students are taking a bus trip through the South to retrace the route of the 1961 Freedom Rides to challenge segregation laws.
After weekend events in Washington, the students and several original Freedom Riders planned to start their journey Sunday.
They'll wind through several states, stopping in cities where the original Freedom Riders did, including places where the bus was firebombed and protesters were attacked and thrown in jail. The trip ends May 16 in New Orleans.
They're helping to promote a new "Freedom Riders" documentary May 16 on PBS stations.
After news of the violence against the initial Freedom Riders spread, hundreds more enlisted in the cause and joined 60 rides that summer. The demonstrations became a defining point in civil rights history.
(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
