Freedom Rides Pilgrimages in Winston-Salem on Dec. 7 and 8

By David Winship If the holiday season of December seems an odd time to hold a bus ride through Winston-Salem, visiting notable locations and events of Black history, consider that on December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks was riding a bus in Montgomery, Alabama, after a hard day of work. When asked by the bus driver to move from her seat to the back of the bus so that a white rider could have her seat, Mrs. Parks refused to give up her seat. “When he saw me still sitting, he asked if I was going to stand up, and I said, ‘No, I’m not.’ The bus driver then said, ‘Well, if you don’t stand up, I’m going to have to call the police and have you arrested.’ I said, ‘You may do that.'”  Rosa Parks’ arrest was the catalyst that the newly formed Montgomery Improvement Association needed to organize a boycott of the city’s buses on Dec. 5. The Drum Major Alliance, along with its sibling organization Lit City, is once again offering Freedom Rides in Winston-Salem on Dec. 7 and 8. The Freedom Ride is a local pilgrimage that explores the stories of Black faith, courage, creativity, and power-building...