Sixty-five years after the “Freedom Riders” boarded buses in Washington, to New Orleans in the fight against segregation, a coalition of faith and civic groups are following the same route for a 12-state trip over eight days.
Robbie Thomas, daughter of Henry “Hank” Thomas, one of the original Freedom Riders; Dr. Steve Thomas, who was 16 in 1961 and traveled with his father; and Kredelle Petway-Phillips and her brother Rev Alphonso K. Petway, prepare to leave Richmond on the bus Tuesday morning.