Vote Common Good also announced it is teaming with a coalition of faith and civic groups staging a tour tracing the bus route Black and white activists took through Southern states during the Civil Rights Movement: “Two weeks before the 2026 midterm elections, a coalition of civil rights leaders, artists, faith leaders and original Freedom Riders retraces the 1961 Freedom Ride route — from Washington, D.C. through the Deep South to New Orleans, the city the original riders never reached.”
In addition to Vote Common Good, “The Ride” is being convened by Greater Things Foundation, Faith Out Loud, Americans United for Separation of Church and State and Red Letter Christians.
The original Freedom Riders were met with racial violence and arrests, and global media coverage, during their travels to protest segregation. As a result, the Interstate Commerce Commission banned segregation at interstate travel facilities.
“Original members of the 1961 Freedom Rides — and the children, nephews and grandchildren who carry their names — will meet the buses along the route,” organizers of “The Ride” said.