Rep. Jonathan Jackson, center, speaks in front of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture on Sept. 15, 2026, in Washington. Sept. 15 was National Voter Registration Day and also the 63rd anniversary of the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. (RNS photo/Adelle M. Banks)
Two weeks before Election Day, the Rev. Michael W. Waters, the pastor of Abundant Life African Methodist Episcopal Church in Dallas, is spearheading an eight-state, 19-city tour to trace the steps of Freedom Riders to the South 65 years ago. He expects about 50 people to travel the bulk of the journey, which will include buses, cars and motorcycles and connect with houses of worship and historically Black colleges and universities as faith leaders, original Freedom Riders and their descendants join together for the intergenerational and interfaith journey. Along the way, local artists and community organizations are expected to join the multicultural event.
“We will be going in many ways to the spaces and places where they have already gone in decades before as a way to uplift and support our communities today and to empower them to get out the vote,” said Waters of the initiative called “The Ride.”
“In the same spaces and places where they fought to bring about liberation are the spaces and places where democracy is under duress.”