DIEGO PERDOMO/Verite News 多代黑人民权活动家周三在泽维尔大学聚会，向一群“自由乘车者”致敬，他们终于完成了 65 年前被迫中断的从华盛顿特区前往新奥尔良的巴士旅程。
DIEGO PERDOMO/Verite News Multiple generations of Black civil rights activists met at Xavier University on Wednesday to honor a group of Freedom Riders after they finally completed a disrupted bus journey from Washington D.C. to New Orleans 65 years after the original trip was halted.
最初的那次乘车行动是抗议“吉姆·克劳法”系列行程的首站，1961 年 5 月 14 日在阿拉巴马州安尼斯顿遭遇种族隔离主义暴徒燃烧弹袭击巴士而被迫中断。13 名乘车者在巴士爆炸前成功逃生，但仍遭暴徒殴打。次日，他们直接飞往新奥尔良，因酒店担心进一步暴力拒绝接待，只得在泽维尔大学寻求庇护。
The original ride, the first in a series of trips to protest Jim Crow laws, was interrupted when a segregationist mob firebombed their buses in Anniston, Alabama on May 14, 1961. The 13 riders were able to escape the bus before it exploded but sustained beatings from the mob. The next day, they flew directly to New Orleans and sought refuge at Xavier University after hotels refused to host them out of fears of further violence.
最新一批“自由乘车者”于 10 月 17 日从华盛顿特区出发，途经塞尔玛、杰克逊等历史名城，完成了前辈们未能走完的巴士路线。车上乘客包括 1961 年“自由乘车”行动的原始参与者，其中 Steve Thomas 乘车从杰克逊前往蒙哥马利。
Leaving D.C. on Oct. 17 and stopping in historical cities like Selma and Jackson, the latest cohort of Freedom Riders completed the bus route their predecessors were unable to. Among the riders were original participants of the 1961 Freedom Rides, including Steve Thomas, who travelled from Jackson to Montgomery.
大家手拉手高唱《我们终将胜利》，众多信仰驱动的活动家相继发言，接待会凸显了黑人政治行动的传承——这正值路易斯安那州诉卡莱案最高法院判决削弱《投票权法案》关键条款、全国范围重新划分选区导致深南部各州包括路易斯安那州在内的两个黑人占多数国会选区之一被取消之际，外界对选民压制深感忧虑。
Interlocking hands to sing “We Shall Overcome” and hosting a litany of faith-based activists, the reception highlighted a legacy of Black political action amidst concerns of voter suppression after the Louisiana v. Callais Supreme Court decision gutted key provisions of the Voting Rights Act and a nationwide redistricting eliminated majority-Black congressional districts across the Deep South, including one of two in Louisiana.
“我们正在迎来另一场选举，投票权、平等代表权、公民参与以及我们民主制度的完整性等问题再次摆在我们面前，”驻扎在密苏里州的特拉西·布莱克蒙牧师说。“在全国范围内，社区们正在纠结一些本应很久以前就永久解决的问题：‘谁有资格投票？’”在获表彰的部分最初的“自由乘车者”中，有新奥尔良当地人杰罗姆·“大鸭子”·史密斯和多迪·史密斯-西蒙斯。
“We are approaching another election and once again questions about voting rights, equal representation, civic participation and the integrity of our democratic institutions is before us,” said the Rev. Traci Blackmon, who is based in Missouri. “Across the nation, the communities are wrestling questions that should have been settled permanently long ago: ‘Who gets to vote?’”Among the some of the original Freedom Riders recognized were New Orleans locals Jerome “Big Duck” Smith and Dodie Smith-Simmons .
1963年5月，史密斯曾与时任美国司法部长罗伯特·肯尼迪会面，质问他为何未能保护他和其他民权活动家免受南方各地愤怒的白人暴徒袭击。这次会面被视为促使联邦政府支持民权运动的关键因素。史密斯继续为民权而战，并指导新奥尔良的青年，直至今年8月去世。出席活动的史密斯-西蒙斯在“种族平等大会”（CORE）期间也曾培训自由乘车者。
Smith famously met with then-U.S. Attorney General Robert Kennedy in May 1963, confronting him about the failure to protect him and other civil rights activists against angry white mobs across the South. The meeting is seen as a pivotal factor that pushed the federal government to support the civil rights movement. Smith continued to fight for civil rights and mentor New Orleans’ youth until his death in August. Smith-Simmons, who attended the event, also trained freedom riders when she was with CORE.
在泽维尔大学活动之前，“自由乘车者”首先前往TEP解说中心——该中心位于前威廉·弗兰茨小学——会见创始人利奥娜·泰特，她是1960年最早进入该校实现种族融合的学生之一。
Before the Xavier event, the Freedom Riders first stopped at the TEP Interpretive Center — located at the former William Frantz Elementary School — to meet founder Leona Tate, one of the first students to integrate the school in 1960.
随后，他们前往泽维尔大学的圣凯瑟琳·德雷塞尔礼拜堂，接受对其努力的表彰，并参加一个旨在突显黑人行动主义遗产的项目。与最初的巴士之旅一样，与历史黑人大学（HBCU）的团结是新运动的贯穿主线，学生领袖们向前辈们的行动致敬。
They then made their way to Xavier University’s St. Katharine Drexel Chapel for a recognition of their efforts and a program to highlight the legacy of Black activism. Like the original bus trip, solidarity with HBCUs was a throughline for the new campaign as student leaders paid tribute to the actions of their predecessors.
泽维尔大学学生佩特拉·弗拉德在活动上发言说：“史密斯先生不仅仅是一位自由乘车运动者和自由乘车者。他是一位父亲、一位导师，也是一个展现爱、勇气、文化和对家庭奉献的人。今天我们向他致敬，向他的牺牲、他的服务和他的历程致敬。”“当我们欢迎自由乘车者重返泽维尔大学时，我们认识到我们正站在前人的肩膀上。作为这所传统黑人大学的学生，我们有责任了解塑造了我们社区的历史。”
“Mr. Smith was more than a fighter and freedom rider. He was a father, a mentor, and a man who demonstrated love, courage, culture and commitment to his family. We honor him today, and his sacrifice, his service and his journey,” said Xavier University student Paytra Flood, who spoke at the event. “As we welcome back Freedom Riders to Xavier, we recognize that we are standing on the shoulders of those who came before us. As students at this historically Black University, we have the responsibility to understand history that shaped our communities.”
最初的自由乘车运动是为了对抗当时仍在实行的公共交通种族隔离，而今年的行程则旨在动员选民，并鼓励活动人士了解他们今天能为推动变革做些什么。
While the original Freedom Rides were undertaken to confront ongoing transit segregation, this year’s trip sought to mobilize voters and encourage activists to understand what they can do today to enact change.
同样参加了近期行程的传承自由乘车者克雷德尔·佩特韦-菲利普斯说，她想提醒年轻美国人，他们的选票和推动变革的能力至关重要。她的自由乘车经历是1961年7月的一次飞行，从阿拉巴马州蒙哥马利飞往密西西比州杰克逊，她在杰克逊被当地警方逮捕并关押了三天。佩特韦-菲利普斯参与自由乘车运动被视为最终实现航班种族隔离废除的重要一环。当她为纪念自己那次飞行50周年重访杰克逊时，她说看到黑人在当地政府中有代表令她感到欣慰。
Kredelle Petway-Phillips, a legacy Freedom Rider who also participated in the recent trip, said she wanted to remind young Americans of the importance of their vote and ability to make change. Her Freedom Ride was an July 1961 airplane trip from Montgomery, Alabama, to Jackson, Mississippi, where she was arrested by Jackson police and held for three days. Petway-Phillips’ participation in the rides was seen as integral to the eventual desegregation of flights. When she visited Jackson for the 50th reunion of her flight, she said it was rewarding for her to see Black people represented in the local government.
佩特韦-菲利普斯说：“投票并让这一遗产延续下去，取决于你们年轻人。”
“It’s up to you young people to vote and keep the legacy alive,” Petway-Phillips said.
“为正确的事而奋斗，（并）为所有人的共同利益投票，因为影响一个人的事也会影响另一个人……当一个人受苦时，我们所有人都在受苦。”泽维尔大学的仪式以第二线游行收尾，从教堂行进到诺曼·弗朗西斯的雕像前。弗朗西斯在担任泽维尔大学男生事务主任期间，曾为1961年5月的自由乘车者提供安全庇护。弗朗西斯于今年早些时候去世，他后来于1968年成为泽维尔大学首位黑人和首位非神职出身的校长。
“Fight for what’s right (and) vote for the common good of all people because what affects one affects the other. … We all suffer when one suffers.”The Xavier ceremony wrapped up with a second line from the chapel to a statue of Norman Francis , who provided safe refuge for the May 1961 Freedom Riders when he was Xavier University Dean of Men. Francis, who died earlier this year, later became Xavier’s first Black and non-clergy member president in 1968.
“现实是，我们必须宣告还有更多的工作要做，”非洲卫理公会圣公会第八教区的主教埃里卡·克劳福德说。该教区代表路易斯安那州和密西西比州的AME教会。“有见证讲述当我们拒绝让最后一站成为终点时会发生什么……这是最后一站，但不要让它成为终点。”
“The reality is that we have to declare that there is more work to be done,” said Bishop Erika Crawford of the Eighth Episcopal District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church that represents AME churches in Louisiana and Mississippi. “There are testimonies about what happens when we refuse to allow the last stops to be the final stop …This is the last stop, but don’t let it be the final stop.”