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Buses Are a Comin': Memoir of a Freedom Rider
A firsthand exploration of the cost of boarding the bus of change to move America forward--written by one of the Civil Rights Movement's pioneers.
At 18, Charles Person was the youngest of the original Freedom Riders, key figures in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement who left Washington, D.C. by bus in 1961, headed for New Orleans. This purposeful mix of black and white, male and female activists--including future Congressman John Lewis, Congress of Racial Equality Director James Farmer, Reverend Benjamin Elton Cox, journalist and pacifist James Peck, and CORE field secretary Genevieve Hughes--set out to discover whether America would abide by a Supreme Court decision that ruled segregation unconstitutional in bus depots, waiting areas, restaurants, and restrooms nationwide.
The Freedom Riders found their answer. No. Southern states would continue to disregard federal law and use violence to enforce racial segregation. One bus was burned to a shell; the second, which Charles rode, was set upon by a mob that beat the Riders nearly to death.
Buses Are a Comin' provides a front-row view of the struggle to belong in America, as Charles leads his colleagues off the bus, into the station, into the mob, and into history to help defeat segregation's violent grip on African American lives. It is also a challenge from a teenager of a previous era to the young people of today: become agents of transformation. Stand firm. Create a more just and moral country where students have a voice, youth can make a difference, and everyone belongs.
At 18, Charles Person was the youngest of the original Freedom Riders, key figures in the U.S. Civil Rights Movement who left Washington, D.C. by bus in 1961, headed for New Orleans. This purposeful mix of black and white, male and female activists--including future Congressman John Lewis, Congress of Racial Equality Director James Farmer, Reverend Benjamin Elton Cox, journalist and pacifist James Peck, and CORE field secretary Genevieve Hughes--set out to discover whether America would abide by a Supreme Court decision that ruled segregation unconstitutional in bus depots, waiting areas, restaurants, and restrooms nationwide.
The Freedom Riders found their answer. No. Southern states would continue to disregard federal law and use violence to enforce racial segregation. One bus was burned to a shell; the second, which Charles rode, was set upon by a mob that beat the Riders nearly to death.
Buses Are a Comin' provides a front-row view of the struggle to belong in America, as Charles leads his colleagues off the bus, into the station, into the mob, and into history to help defeat segregation's violent grip on African American lives. It is also a challenge from a teenager of a previous era to the young people of today: become agents of transformation. Stand firm. Create a more just and moral country where students have a voice, youth can make a difference, and everyone belongs.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published April 27, 2021
61 people are currently reading
8262 people want to read
About the author
Charles Person
1 book48 followersCharles Person was an African-American civil rights activist who was the youngest Freedom Rider of the 1961 Freedom Rides. He was born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia. Following his 1960 graduation from David Tobias Howard High School, he attended Morehouse College. Person was selected by the Congress of Racial Equality to join the Freedom Rides in 1961. His memoir Buses Are a Comin': Memoir of a Freedom Rider was published by St. Martin's Press in 2021. Charles most recently established the Freedom Riders Training Academy, a comprehensive curriculum on nonviolent resistance. The program, co-founded by Pete Conroy, of the Freedom Riders Park Board, was designed to educate individuals about the principles of peaceful demonstration and the lasting significance of First Amendment rights. Participants learn to exercise these rights responsibly and within the boundaries of the law, promoting constructive and lawful engagement.
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April 20, 2021
There are many unsung heroes of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. Charles Person, the author of Buses Are A Comin’, is one of them. Person is one of two original Freedom Riders that are still living today (alongside Hank Thomas). He was the youngest member of this group of activists who rode buses from Washington, D.C. to the Deep South to test whether two Supreme Court cases that outlawed segregation on buses and bus stations were going to be enforced. Person’s memoir is coming out at the just the right time for the 60th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides and at another time of strong civil rights activism.
Person’s book is a memoir covering his early life to his involvement in the Freedom Rides. It begins with his upbringing on Bradley Street in the Bottoms neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia. He had his first encounter with the KKK when he was a child. He describes it in vivid detail, it would not be his last run-in with the Klan. His memoir continues through his school days and to the time he was considering colleges. His first choice MIT was too expensive to attend and his second choice Georgia Tech would not admit him because of his skin color. Feeling down, his grandfather picks him back up by telling him to “do something”. Readers will find that this mantra is important later on in Person’s life. He ultimately decides to attend Morehouse College. It was at Morehouse that he meets Lonnie King and Julian Bond who get him involved in the Atlanta Student Movement, where they protested segregated lunch counters and succeed in integrating them.
The rest of the book chronicles Person’s experience on the Freedom Rides. He writes about each member who was involved, White and Black, with particular focus on the White members and their motivations for getting involved. This is especially the case for Jim Peck who was a White millionaire who participated in the Freedom Rides. Person does a good job telling what it was like to participate in this movement. Specifically how the Riders did not face a lot of opposition in the earlier stops, but trouble and violence occurred as soon as they arrived in the Deep South. It would be this violence by racist Whites and Klan members that would end their Freedom Ride early. Person gives a brief summary of the other Freedom Rides that picked up where his group left off, but leaves it to those participants to tell their side of the story.
He ends this memoir by covering his life post-Freedom Ride, his service in the military in Cuba (during the Cuban Missile Crisis) and Vietnam. Both experiences could be books of their own. Person is particularly strong when he discusses the cost of his service in the Civil Rights Movement and the military. As a result he suffered injuries and physical issues that continue to effect him to this day. White members of the Freedom Rides also suffered a cost, their families disinherited them and others either currently live or died in poverty. This was good to mention because sometimes we see activists who end up living a lavish lifestyle, but that is usually just the ones who became famous post-movement. Others who tend to be unsung live normal or dismal lives, never really appreciated for the service they did for our country.
Throughout the book Person explicitly makes connections between his activism and the young activists who are involved in various social movements today. Our modern day activists stand on the shoulders of people like Charles Person and the other lesser known activists of the 1950s and 1960s. This will be a great book for young activists to read, to learn they are not alone, that someone has been in their shoes. Students of history and the Civil Rights Movement will enjoy reading this beautifully written book.
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, Charles Person, and Richard Rooker for a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released on April 27, 2021.
First posted here: https://medium.com/ballasts-for-the-m...
Person’s book is a memoir covering his early life to his involvement in the Freedom Rides. It begins with his upbringing on Bradley Street in the Bottoms neighborhood in Atlanta, Georgia. He had his first encounter with the KKK when he was a child. He describes it in vivid detail, it would not be his last run-in with the Klan. His memoir continues through his school days and to the time he was considering colleges. His first choice MIT was too expensive to attend and his second choice Georgia Tech would not admit him because of his skin color. Feeling down, his grandfather picks him back up by telling him to “do something”. Readers will find that this mantra is important later on in Person’s life. He ultimately decides to attend Morehouse College. It was at Morehouse that he meets Lonnie King and Julian Bond who get him involved in the Atlanta Student Movement, where they protested segregated lunch counters and succeed in integrating them.
The rest of the book chronicles Person’s experience on the Freedom Rides. He writes about each member who was involved, White and Black, with particular focus on the White members and their motivations for getting involved. This is especially the case for Jim Peck who was a White millionaire who participated in the Freedom Rides. Person does a good job telling what it was like to participate in this movement. Specifically how the Riders did not face a lot of opposition in the earlier stops, but trouble and violence occurred as soon as they arrived in the Deep South. It would be this violence by racist Whites and Klan members that would end their Freedom Ride early. Person gives a brief summary of the other Freedom Rides that picked up where his group left off, but leaves it to those participants to tell their side of the story.
He ends this memoir by covering his life post-Freedom Ride, his service in the military in Cuba (during the Cuban Missile Crisis) and Vietnam. Both experiences could be books of their own. Person is particularly strong when he discusses the cost of his service in the Civil Rights Movement and the military. As a result he suffered injuries and physical issues that continue to effect him to this day. White members of the Freedom Rides also suffered a cost, their families disinherited them and others either currently live or died in poverty. This was good to mention because sometimes we see activists who end up living a lavish lifestyle, but that is usually just the ones who became famous post-movement. Others who tend to be unsung live normal or dismal lives, never really appreciated for the service they did for our country.
Throughout the book Person explicitly makes connections between his activism and the young activists who are involved in various social movements today. Our modern day activists stand on the shoulders of people like Charles Person and the other lesser known activists of the 1950s and 1960s. This will be a great book for young activists to read, to learn they are not alone, that someone has been in their shoes. Students of history and the Civil Rights Movement will enjoy reading this beautifully written book.
Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, Charles Person, and Richard Rooker for a free ARC copy in exchange for an honest review. This book will be released on April 27, 2021.
First posted here: https://medium.com/ballasts-for-the-m...
February 20, 2024
"Nothing will change if you do not take my Papa's advice and 'do something'." -- Charles Person
February 23, 2021
This memoir left me speechless. I also couldn't stop the tears and rage that overtook me while reading this effort.
I think of all the brave Black men and women and their allies who stood up and said, no more, riding buses right into the mouth of hatred in the deep south.
Charles Person and his comrades James Farmer, Hank Thomas, Genevieve, Al Bigelow, Ed Blankenheim, Jim Peck, Rev Elton Cox, Jimmy McDonald, Walter & Frances Bergman and Joe Perkins changed and shaped history. Salute to all Freedom Fighters and Freedom Riders who came before and after them, and all the students and professors who put their lives on the line for change.
The way Mr. Person was able to juxtapose his era against the current era and the actions that are currently taking place within Black Lives Matters chapters, and with other global movements such as March for Our Lives, the #MeToo movement, etc. makes this extremely current and relatable. It is a vital read in understanding the shoulders that we stand on.
Thank you so much NetGalley for letting me read a copy before its release! This book is being released April 27, 2021. I'll be purchasing a copy in the future.
I think of all the brave Black men and women and their allies who stood up and said, no more, riding buses right into the mouth of hatred in the deep south.
Charles Person and his comrades James Farmer, Hank Thomas, Genevieve, Al Bigelow, Ed Blankenheim, Jim Peck, Rev Elton Cox, Jimmy McDonald, Walter & Frances Bergman and Joe Perkins changed and shaped history. Salute to all Freedom Fighters and Freedom Riders who came before and after them, and all the students and professors who put their lives on the line for change.
The way Mr. Person was able to juxtapose his era against the current era and the actions that are currently taking place within Black Lives Matters chapters, and with other global movements such as March for Our Lives, the #MeToo movement, etc. makes this extremely current and relatable. It is a vital read in understanding the shoulders that we stand on.
Thank you so much NetGalley for letting me read a copy before its release! This book is being released April 27, 2021. I'll be purchasing a copy in the future.
June 2, 2021
“We made a demand to be seen, acknowledged, heard, and affirmed as human beings. We sat in at restaurant, kneeled in at churches, and waded in at beaches where human beings who somehow thought they were more human than we met us with force, indignation, mockery, and arrest.”
In 1961 Charles Person was an 18 year old student at Morehouse College. He also became one of the original Freedom Riders who risked their lives to travel by bus from Washington D. C. to New Orleans to test whether the states along their route would comply with a Supreme Court desegregation opinion. The ride was sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality. Person is one of only 2 of the original 13 Freedom Riders alive today, so this first person account of these events is very important to preserve.
In this memoir, Person recounts how he was shaped by his parents and circumstances to take the bold step that he did when volunteering to be a Freedom Rider. The Freedom Riders were both black and white, with a wide age range and vastly different life experiences. The book describes the training that they received in non violent resistance from James Farmer. The riders worked in teams of two, one was an observer. The other was a tester who attempted to use the services reserved for the opposite race - including rest rooms, bus seats, shoe shine stands and lunch rooms. They were also accompanied by reporters and photographers.
All along the way the riders encountered difficulties, but the worst was in Birmingham, Alabama where they were severely beaten and a mob tried to burn them alive. They eventually had to abandon their plan to continue on to Montgomery, Alabama because no bus driver would take them. Their attempt to fly also had to be abandoned due to bomb threats. Although the original 13 didn’t get to complete the planned route, other Freedom Riders joined in and kept the Freedom Ride going.
This book was very well written and detailed. Person described this milestone in the civil rights struggle from a unique vantage point. I am glad that he wrote the book and that I got to read it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
In 1961 Charles Person was an 18 year old student at Morehouse College. He also became one of the original Freedom Riders who risked their lives to travel by bus from Washington D. C. to New Orleans to test whether the states along their route would comply with a Supreme Court desegregation opinion. The ride was sponsored by the Congress of Racial Equality. Person is one of only 2 of the original 13 Freedom Riders alive today, so this first person account of these events is very important to preserve.
In this memoir, Person recounts how he was shaped by his parents and circumstances to take the bold step that he did when volunteering to be a Freedom Rider. The Freedom Riders were both black and white, with a wide age range and vastly different life experiences. The book describes the training that they received in non violent resistance from James Farmer. The riders worked in teams of two, one was an observer. The other was a tester who attempted to use the services reserved for the opposite race - including rest rooms, bus seats, shoe shine stands and lunch rooms. They were also accompanied by reporters and photographers.
All along the way the riders encountered difficulties, but the worst was in Birmingham, Alabama where they were severely beaten and a mob tried to burn them alive. They eventually had to abandon their plan to continue on to Montgomery, Alabama because no bus driver would take them. Their attempt to fly also had to be abandoned due to bomb threats. Although the original 13 didn’t get to complete the planned route, other Freedom Riders joined in and kept the Freedom Ride going.
This book was very well written and detailed. Person described this milestone in the civil rights struggle from a unique vantage point. I am glad that he wrote the book and that I got to read it.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
April 27, 2021
4.25 stars Thanks to Marketing at St Martins for the option to read this book and NetGalley for the download of this ARC. Publishes on April 27, 2021.
Sixty years ago, almost to the week, the Freedom Riders started in DC on a trip to New Orleans. Their goal was to test the new laws that applied to African Americans, in a non-violent unassuming protest below the Mason Dixon Line and deep into the South. Charles Person, the author, was the youngest of the original Freedom Riders. He was 18 years old, but was not foreign to civil right protests. He had organized and attended sit-ins in Atlanta, his home town, at local dinners. Person and one other man are the only remaining living participants of the original Freedom Riders. However many more people, both black and white, took up the cause and laid their lives on the line for desegregation.
Laws had passed allowing the Black population to ride in any seat on Interstate travel and also to be admitted to any section of a depot or depot restaurant area. Blacks were no longer to be segregated. However the deep south was not so accommodating.
This happens to be a protest that John Lewis, the well know Civil Rights Legislator was also on. There were both white and black people participating in this protest. They were doing it in a non violent way, but in a way to see if things were actually changing. Whites went to the back of the bus, Blacks took a front seat. Whites ordered dinners through Black Only cubby holes and Blacks sat at White Only counters. They showed Black and White intermingling. All went well until they hit Alabama - then all hell broke loose.
This memoir is a very good portrayal of the hard fought path that was taken in 1960's to end segregation. In many ways this was the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement - the involvement of the Kennedy's - the rise of John Lewis - the battle of those who believed in equality.
Having lived in some of the southern states as a child, I saw a lot of the signs and treatments of the Black population. Black men stepping off the sidewalk to let my mother and I pass. Black men lowering their heads and eyes when speaking to my father. Sign posted designated drinking fountains and restrooms. I was fairly young, under 10 years of age, so did not understand everything I witnessed then. I had not grown up in the south, so was not indoctrinated to their beliefs and way of life. My time spent in the Southeast was luckily short lived, as my father traveled as an iron worker and we always reassimilated to the Midwest. Even as young as I was I do have memories of that time - a taste and feel of the segregated south.
Sixty years ago, almost to the week, the Freedom Riders started in DC on a trip to New Orleans. Their goal was to test the new laws that applied to African Americans, in a non-violent unassuming protest below the Mason Dixon Line and deep into the South. Charles Person, the author, was the youngest of the original Freedom Riders. He was 18 years old, but was not foreign to civil right protests. He had organized and attended sit-ins in Atlanta, his home town, at local dinners. Person and one other man are the only remaining living participants of the original Freedom Riders. However many more people, both black and white, took up the cause and laid their lives on the line for desegregation.
Laws had passed allowing the Black population to ride in any seat on Interstate travel and also to be admitted to any section of a depot or depot restaurant area. Blacks were no longer to be segregated. However the deep south was not so accommodating.
This happens to be a protest that John Lewis, the well know Civil Rights Legislator was also on. There were both white and black people participating in this protest. They were doing it in a non violent way, but in a way to see if things were actually changing. Whites went to the back of the bus, Blacks took a front seat. Whites ordered dinners through Black Only cubby holes and Blacks sat at White Only counters. They showed Black and White intermingling. All went well until they hit Alabama - then all hell broke loose.
This memoir is a very good portrayal of the hard fought path that was taken in 1960's to end segregation. In many ways this was the beginning of the Civil Rights Movement - the involvement of the Kennedy's - the rise of John Lewis - the battle of those who believed in equality.
Having lived in some of the southern states as a child, I saw a lot of the signs and treatments of the Black population. Black men stepping off the sidewalk to let my mother and I pass. Black men lowering their heads and eyes when speaking to my father. Sign posted designated drinking fountains and restrooms. I was fairly young, under 10 years of age, so did not understand everything I witnessed then. I had not grown up in the south, so was not indoctrinated to their beliefs and way of life. My time spent in the Southeast was luckily short lived, as my father traveled as an iron worker and we always reassimilated to the Midwest. Even as young as I was I do have memories of that time - a taste and feel of the segregated south.
February 6, 2021
Look around. What injustice do you see? What change needs to happen? Get on the bus. Make it happen. There will be a cost.~from Buses are a Comin' by Charles Person
"We intended to be the change," Charles Person writes in the prologue of his memoir Buses are a Comin'.
Sixty years ago, Person walked away from a college education, walked away from the safety of his family's love, and boarded a bus headed for the deep south. He and his companions, black and white, old and young, male and female, were determined to challenge the illegal practice of segregation on the buses.
Person wanted the dignity, respect, and the privileges that whites took for granted. He could have chosen safety. But he heard the call to "do something" and answered it.
He was eighteen when he donned his Sunday suit and joined the Freedom Riders. Over the summer of 1961, four hundred Americans participated in sixty-three Freedom Rides. The Supreme Court had ruled against segregation on the buses, but Jim Crow ruled the south. Four hundred Americans put themselves into harm's way because they believed that "all men are created equal."
Person mentions the well-remembered leaders of the Civil Rights movement, but they are not the only heroes. This is the story of the people who did the hard work. Those whose names are not on street signs across the cities. The students, ministers, homemakers, writers, social workers, people from across the country who believed in E pluribus unum.
One of the heroes in the book is Jim Peck, a wealthy, white man who was severely beaten by white supremacists, and still got back on the bus. It baffled Person how a man with everything would give so much for the rights of another.
Person's voice and personality come through the memoir. It is the story of a young man finding his purpose, committing himself to endure jail and beatings and near death.
I had seen the documentaries and I had read the history. But a memoir brings something new to the story. Person's first hand account is moving, his words have rhythm and lyricism, his story takes us into hell, and finally, into hope.
If they could stand up to power, we can, too. Every generation has its purpose.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
"We intended to be the change," Charles Person writes in the prologue of his memoir Buses are a Comin'.
Sixty years ago, Person walked away from a college education, walked away from the safety of his family's love, and boarded a bus headed for the deep south. He and his companions, black and white, old and young, male and female, were determined to challenge the illegal practice of segregation on the buses.
Person wanted the dignity, respect, and the privileges that whites took for granted. He could have chosen safety. But he heard the call to "do something" and answered it.
He was eighteen when he donned his Sunday suit and joined the Freedom Riders. Over the summer of 1961, four hundred Americans participated in sixty-three Freedom Rides. The Supreme Court had ruled against segregation on the buses, but Jim Crow ruled the south. Four hundred Americans put themselves into harm's way because they believed that "all men are created equal."
Person mentions the well-remembered leaders of the Civil Rights movement, but they are not the only heroes. This is the story of the people who did the hard work. Those whose names are not on street signs across the cities. The students, ministers, homemakers, writers, social workers, people from across the country who believed in E pluribus unum.
One of the heroes in the book is Jim Peck, a wealthy, white man who was severely beaten by white supremacists, and still got back on the bus. It baffled Person how a man with everything would give so much for the rights of another.
Person's voice and personality come through the memoir. It is the story of a young man finding his purpose, committing himself to endure jail and beatings and near death.
I had seen the documentaries and I had read the history. But a memoir brings something new to the story. Person's first hand account is moving, his words have rhythm and lyricism, his story takes us into hell, and finally, into hope.
If they could stand up to power, we can, too. Every generation has its purpose.
I received a free ebook from the publisher through NetGalley. My review is fair and unbiased.
January 28, 2022
This memoir is a perfect example of the kind of American history that we stand to lose if we aren't challenging and educating ourselves. Unfortunately, before being offered this book I had no idea who Charles Person was. The American education system doesn't offer even the most basic of true and inclusive American history so memoirs like this one is vital to filling in the gaps. This isn't just the life story of Person, but his accounts of many other men and women who sacrificed and persevered as unsung heroes of an era that hasn't been fully celebrated. One of my favorite lines in this is when Person is reflecting on some of the stops in Georgia and he states "The white South in the fifties and sixties must have liked mobs. They formed so many of them." It's pretty ironic that the same type of people who formed violently hateful mobs then are today constantly decrying peaceful protestors as unruly mobs. If you are looking to add to your knowledge of the Freedom Riders and their experiences I highly recommend picking up a copy of this book.
I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Where you can find me:
•(♥).•*Monica Is Reading*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @monicaisreading
Instagram: @readermonica
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
I received a review copy from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
Where you can find me:
•(♥).•*Monica Is Reading*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @monicaisreading
Instagram: @readermonica
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
April 16, 2021
“In every era, it takes a bus of change to lead the way to new senses of belonging. Thankfully, a change bus is always a comin’.”
This book really surprised me. I wasn’t expecting to be so easily pulled into this memoir. Charles Person was one of the original 13 Freedom Riders during the summer of 1961. This group sought to challenge resistance to desegregating interstate bus travel in the United States.
Mr. Person starts his memoir giving the reader a glimpse into his upbringing in the bottoms of Atlanta. One of the experiences he recounts is a visit his family made to relatives in the country and encountering the Klan on the trip back to Atlanta. His description of the event is from the standpoint of a child and is one of the most vivid encounters I have read.
He then moves to describing his days at Morehouse and how he was active in the Student Nonviolent movement at the Atlanta University Center. This would be his first taste of protest and activism. It also was preparation for the Freedom Ride ahead.
By the times Mr. Person begins recalling the Freedom Ride days, I was on the edge of my seat. He perfectly describes the tension, the smells, the anger, the words he and his fellow riders encountered.
Parts of the book read like a rousing speech Mr. Person must have given before. I am sure he has recounted his story many times over the last 60 years and finally penned into a moving memoir with the assistance of his friend, Richard Rooker.
The points Mr. Person makes in the memoir about the effects of systematic racism on American society are still valid today. This book will appeal to those who seek to learn more about systematic racism in the United States, those who are interested in the nonviolent student movements of the 1960’s and those who enjoy a well written memoir.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for providing a review copy of this book via Netgalley.
This book really surprised me. I wasn’t expecting to be so easily pulled into this memoir. Charles Person was one of the original 13 Freedom Riders during the summer of 1961. This group sought to challenge resistance to desegregating interstate bus travel in the United States.
Mr. Person starts his memoir giving the reader a glimpse into his upbringing in the bottoms of Atlanta. One of the experiences he recounts is a visit his family made to relatives in the country and encountering the Klan on the trip back to Atlanta. His description of the event is from the standpoint of a child and is one of the most vivid encounters I have read.
He then moves to describing his days at Morehouse and how he was active in the Student Nonviolent movement at the Atlanta University Center. This would be his first taste of protest and activism. It also was preparation for the Freedom Ride ahead.
By the times Mr. Person begins recalling the Freedom Ride days, I was on the edge of my seat. He perfectly describes the tension, the smells, the anger, the words he and his fellow riders encountered.
Parts of the book read like a rousing speech Mr. Person must have given before. I am sure he has recounted his story many times over the last 60 years and finally penned into a moving memoir with the assistance of his friend, Richard Rooker.
The points Mr. Person makes in the memoir about the effects of systematic racism on American society are still valid today. This book will appeal to those who seek to learn more about systematic racism in the United States, those who are interested in the nonviolent student movements of the 1960’s and those who enjoy a well written memoir.
Thanks to St. Martin’s Press for providing a review copy of this book via Netgalley.
May 11, 2021
Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an egalley in exchange for an honest review.
Need some amazing non-fiction books on your reading shelf? How about in your classroom library? Written by the youngest member and one of the remaining survivors of the 1961 Freedom Rides, Charles Person offers a front seat view as his bus travels from Washington and heads into the Deep South where violence awaits.
What I ADORED about this memoir was pretty much everything written! Person's determination and details of the activism that came before, the activism that he participated in and what is happening in the world today. This is a must-read.
Publication Date 27/04/21
Goodreads review published 11/05/21
Need some amazing non-fiction books on your reading shelf? How about in your classroom library? Written by the youngest member and one of the remaining survivors of the 1961 Freedom Rides, Charles Person offers a front seat view as his bus travels from Washington and heads into the Deep South where violence awaits.
What I ADORED about this memoir was pretty much everything written! Person's determination and details of the activism that came before, the activism that he participated in and what is happening in the world today. This is a must-read.
Publication Date 27/04/21
Goodreads review published 11/05/21
October 14, 2020
NetGalley Review for Buses Are A Comin’ by Charles Person with Richard Rooker, published by St. Martin’s Press
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this riveting autobiography of a Freedom Rider and civil rights activist.
Charles Person, born in Atlanta, GA in 1943, inspired by the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956 and the 1960 lunch counter sit-in’s in Greensboro, NC, dedicated his young life to full citizenship for black Americans. “Our parents in their time of awakening had handled race one way: Life is difficult, but it could be a whole lot worse. Get along. . . . We, the college-aged Negroes of America, believed our time was now. The day was upon us. I was awake and up for the day.” (page 87)
Charles was a brilliant math and science student but was denied entry into Georgia Tech because of the color of his skin. In 1960, he matriculated at Morehouse College, an historical black college in Atlanta. Influenced by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) which was a student-driven organization based on100 percent consensus, giving everyone an equal voice. Charles immediately joined sit-ins at lunch counters, was arrested and even placed in solitary confinement because he sang protest songs too fervently for his racist white jailers' sensibilities.
Interstate transportation had been integrated in 1944 by Irene Morgan (Morgan v Virginia). In 1947 the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) tested the Supreme Court decision by sending riders on interstate buses. With a few exceptions, the ride, known as the Journey of Reconciliation was a success in the northern portion of the South. CORE chose to test it again in 1961 by sending a dozen riders (men and women, black and white, old and young) from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans. Thurgood Marshall said it would be liking leading “sheep to the slaughter.”
Here are those brave Americans:
James Farmer, head of CORE
John Lewis, Hank Thomas Genevieve, Al Bigelow, Ed Blankenheim, Jim Peck, Rev Elton Cox, Jimmy McDonald, Walter Bergman, Frances Bergman, Joe Perkins, Charles Person.
I encourage you to read their story and Charles Person’s. He is a remarkable man, the youngest of the Freedom Riders and a brave American. I believe this could easily become a classic of civil rights nonfiction.
I close with the words of Charles Person:
“Did we belong where we thought we belonged in 1961? Of course, we belonged. Do you belong where you think you belong today? Of course, you belong. But “Do I belong?” is a universal question asked in every generation by those who feel they do not. It is a question resisted by those who think others do not belong. . . . In every era, it takes a bus of change to lead the way to new sense of belonging. Thankfully, a change bus is always a comin’.” (page 563)
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this riveting autobiography of a Freedom Rider and civil rights activist.
Charles Person, born in Atlanta, GA in 1943, inspired by the Montgomery Bus Boycott of 1955-1956 and the 1960 lunch counter sit-in’s in Greensboro, NC, dedicated his young life to full citizenship for black Americans. “Our parents in their time of awakening had handled race one way: Life is difficult, but it could be a whole lot worse. Get along. . . . We, the college-aged Negroes of America, believed our time was now. The day was upon us. I was awake and up for the day.” (page 87)
Charles was a brilliant math and science student but was denied entry into Georgia Tech because of the color of his skin. In 1960, he matriculated at Morehouse College, an historical black college in Atlanta. Influenced by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., he joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) which was a student-driven organization based on100 percent consensus, giving everyone an equal voice. Charles immediately joined sit-ins at lunch counters, was arrested and even placed in solitary confinement because he sang protest songs too fervently for his racist white jailers' sensibilities.
Interstate transportation had been integrated in 1944 by Irene Morgan (Morgan v Virginia). In 1947 the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) tested the Supreme Court decision by sending riders on interstate buses. With a few exceptions, the ride, known as the Journey of Reconciliation was a success in the northern portion of the South. CORE chose to test it again in 1961 by sending a dozen riders (men and women, black and white, old and young) from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans. Thurgood Marshall said it would be liking leading “sheep to the slaughter.”
Here are those brave Americans:
James Farmer, head of CORE
John Lewis, Hank Thomas Genevieve, Al Bigelow, Ed Blankenheim, Jim Peck, Rev Elton Cox, Jimmy McDonald, Walter Bergman, Frances Bergman, Joe Perkins, Charles Person.
I encourage you to read their story and Charles Person’s. He is a remarkable man, the youngest of the Freedom Riders and a brave American. I believe this could easily become a classic of civil rights nonfiction.
I close with the words of Charles Person:
“Did we belong where we thought we belonged in 1961? Of course, we belonged. Do you belong where you think you belong today? Of course, you belong. But “Do I belong?” is a universal question asked in every generation by those who feel they do not. It is a question resisted by those who think others do not belong. . . . In every era, it takes a bus of change to lead the way to new sense of belonging. Thankfully, a change bus is always a comin’.” (page 563)
September 1, 2020
Written in a conversational tone, Buses Are a Comin’ is a historical, educational, and sometimes disturbing, look at the non-confrontational, peaceful fight for equal rights during the early Civil Rights Movement. The men and women at the center of this account are ordinary people, like you and me, striving to bring about change for the good of their race, for the good of the world. While they are non-violent, and stick to their vow of non-violence against all odds, those who they oppose peacefully don’t hold to the same creed. They torture and beat men and women, young and old alike, mercilessly for no other reason than the color of their skin. This is a well written account of what it was like for an innocent black person to go about their daily life while striving for equality in the Deep South. Horror and beatings awaited them just for their choice of a seat on the bus that should rightfully have been theirs all along. I think now is a good time for everyone to read this book and to realize what it was really like back then when brave heroes stood up, or sat down, peacefully in an effort to bring about change. I am so glad I read this book and I’m thankful to NetGalley for the advance read copy.
February 28, 2021
In 1961, a small group of people, both black and white and of a variety of ages from the author at 18 years old up to a retired white couple, got on a variety of buses, planning to head from Washington, DC to New Orleans. The idea was to test what would happen when they sat at various places on the bus, front or back, regardless of their colour. They also (black and white), in some cases, sat together. Supreme Court Decisions in the 1940s (before Rosa Parks) and the 1950s said that anyone should be able to sit anywhere on interstate buses, and that anyone should be able to sit anywhere, use any washroom, order from any food place, etc. inside the depots.
Wow… what an amazing group of very brave people! Granted, some of them didn’t realize how bad it would get (including Charles, though he had grown up in Georgia… but Georgia wasn’t the worst), but this was the first group of “Freedom Riders” that set off a chain of others to continue when they were unable to finish their trips. It’s crazy to me how the KKK was still alive and well in the deep South, and even police were involved. Obviously, this book includes violence (though the Riders themselves had vowed to be nonviolent), and some awful subject matter. It was heart-wrenching at times.
The first chapter tells of the climax of the trip, but then backs up to tell us about Charles’ life growing up. In May 1961 for those two weeks that the first Freedom Ride was happening, he was at the tail end of his first year of college. He had previously been involved in some protests in Atlanta with other college students regarding the segregation of blacks and whites in restaurants and cafes. But this was something else. When I finished, I “had” to check a few videos on youtube.
Wow… what an amazing group of very brave people! Granted, some of them didn’t realize how bad it would get (including Charles, though he had grown up in Georgia… but Georgia wasn’t the worst), but this was the first group of “Freedom Riders” that set off a chain of others to continue when they were unable to finish their trips. It’s crazy to me how the KKK was still alive and well in the deep South, and even police were involved. Obviously, this book includes violence (though the Riders themselves had vowed to be nonviolent), and some awful subject matter. It was heart-wrenching at times.
The first chapter tells of the climax of the trip, but then backs up to tell us about Charles’ life growing up. In May 1961 for those two weeks that the first Freedom Ride was happening, he was at the tail end of his first year of college. He had previously been involved in some protests in Atlanta with other college students regarding the segregation of blacks and whites in restaurants and cafes. But this was something else. When I finished, I “had” to check a few videos on youtube.
April 1, 2022
I partly read, partly listened to this one, and I highly recommend both. The audiobook is fantastic, and the book includes some amazing photos from the Freedom Rides. Buses Are a Comin’ should be required reading in the U.S. because this personal history of the Freedom Rides of 1961 is quite amazing story, but it is also truly horrifying. It often made me really mad and really sad. The bravery and strength of the individuals who participated in these rides to secure equal rights for all in the face of such pure hatred is truly mindboggling. The fact that some people were so upset by integration that they would wait for buses to arrive just to torment and attack the riders is crazy to me, but I also am so impressed by those who were willing to risk everything to secure the rights they should already have. I learned a ton about the build-up to these rides and the clever strategies used to prevail. I highly recommend this one – it is a fabulous history lesson as well as a good reminder about sticking up for what you believe and doing what is right.
For more reading recommendations check out my podcast and blog: https://www.thoughtsfromapage.com and follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thoughtsfro....
For more reading recommendations check out my podcast and blog: https://www.thoughtsfromapage.com and follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thoughtsfro....
March 30, 2021
For me, true heroes aren’t celebrities or athletes who get paid a ton of money to do their jobs. Heroes are people like Charles Person, a man who stood up for his rights despite the threat to his safety, remained peaceful in the face of aggression, and showed love in the face of hate.
This memoir is beautiful, heartbreaking, fascinating, inspiring, and hopeful.
The writing style is conversational, as if we’re sitting down with Charles Person as he tells us about his life and, most prominently, his experience as a Freedom Rider during the early sixties. He writes with rich detail, allowing me to understand, in at least a small way, what it was like to be a Black man living in the south during this tumultuous era.
I don’t have appropriate words for how I feel about this book and all it represents. So read this book. Learn. Grow. Be part of the change.
*I received a review copy from St. Martin’s Press, via NetGalley.*
This memoir is beautiful, heartbreaking, fascinating, inspiring, and hopeful.
The writing style is conversational, as if we’re sitting down with Charles Person as he tells us about his life and, most prominently, his experience as a Freedom Rider during the early sixties. He writes with rich detail, allowing me to understand, in at least a small way, what it was like to be a Black man living in the south during this tumultuous era.
I don’t have appropriate words for how I feel about this book and all it represents. So read this book. Learn. Grow. Be part of the change.
*I received a review copy from St. Martin’s Press, via NetGalley.*
February 19, 2021
Gripping first-person narrative of the youngest member of the original Freedom Ride, scheduled from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans in Spring, 1961. The story paces itself along, neither lingering too long nor racing through. The author's eyewitness to the challenges faced by those who sought to bring about desegregation, and the actions of those (all too) violently opposed, is quite literally breathtaking.
In 2021 and beyond, as we continue to struggle with racial disparity in the U.S., this book can offer perspective on how it was done 60 years ago, and encouragement to the next generations picking up the mantle.
In 2021 and beyond, as we continue to struggle with racial disparity in the U.S., this book can offer perspective on how it was done 60 years ago, and encouragement to the next generations picking up the mantle.
August 13, 2022
4.5 stars Thanks to St. Martin's Press, NetGalley, Charles Person and Richard Rooker for a digital galley of this memoir in exchange for an honest review.
I had never heard of Charles Person and knew very little about the Freedom Riders. In his memoir, Charles Person tells of his early childhood, family life, education and how he became interested in nonviolent protests. He shares about his preparations for the Freedom Ride, introduces the leaders and other people involved, and takes us with him on the journey.
Parts of this book were difficult to read, but it is important to read and learn about the people who stood up for equality and justice.
I had never heard of Charles Person and knew very little about the Freedom Riders. In his memoir, Charles Person tells of his early childhood, family life, education and how he became interested in nonviolent protests. He shares about his preparations for the Freedom Ride, introduces the leaders and other people involved, and takes us with him on the journey.
Parts of this book were difficult to read, but it is important to read and learn about the people who stood up for equality and justice.
June 3, 2021
Good Account of the Freedom Ride
Two people share a harrowing account of themselves of as Freedom Riders. Beatings, jail, verbal abuse and sheer terror were part of their protest to win votings rights and end racial segregation.
Two people share a harrowing account of themselves of as Freedom Riders. Beatings, jail, verbal abuse and sheer terror were part of their protest to win votings rights and end racial segregation.
February 2, 2022
Wonderful recollection of the 1961 Freedom Bus ride by a man who was 18 at the time of his involvement. Well done!
August 31, 2020
Charles Person's riveting account of his being one of the first Freedom Riders in 1961 merits high praise for many reasons. The novel documents first-hand the hatred and brutality met by these "riders," young and old, black and white, who their lives in search of racial equality.
A very young man when he took the ride in 1961, Person "does something," and it shapes his whole life. In this novel, he throws down a gauntlet to young people, yes, but also to anyone of any age now, to "board the bus of change" in support of equality for everyone, no matter the race or the creed, in this country.
This is an important work, perhaps even great. A prediction can easily be made that it will be studied by teachers and used it schools. A masterpiece!
A very young man when he took the ride in 1961, Person "does something," and it shapes his whole life. In this novel, he throws down a gauntlet to young people, yes, but also to anyone of any age now, to "board the bus of change" in support of equality for everyone, no matter the race or the creed, in this country.
This is an important work, perhaps even great. A prediction can easily be made that it will be studied by teachers and used it schools. A masterpiece!
November 30, 2021
A lot of times the celebrity names from the Civil Rights era take on a larger-than-life quality. I think it's easy to get in the mindset well I couldn't do with someone like John Lewis or doctor King did. They were destined for something greater. That's why I enjoyed this memoir showed how an everyday teenager could risk his life for basic freedom.
March 27, 2021
Originally published on my book blog, TheBibliophage.com.
Charles Person was the youngest person on the 1961 Freedom Ride. He was younger even than the legendary John Lewis, who went on to represent an Atlanta area district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Now, Person tells his story in Buses Are a Comin’: Memoir of a Freedom Rider. It publishes on April 27, 2021 and is available for pre-order now.
Person spends the majority of the book explaining where he came from and how he got involved in the groundbreaking bus ride. Despite the turbulent times, he tells his story in surprisingly quiet and calm manner.
Then, at 75%, we board the bus with him, and the intense drama begins. It is valuable to understand all of the lead up information, but I definitely wish Person had spent more time on the Ride. That part of his experience is like nothing the rest of us have experienced.
Nonetheless, it is interesting to read about Person’s family, his early life in one of Atlanta’s poorest neighborhoods, and how he made it to Morehouse College. His freshman year of college was certainly unlike any other freshman that year, and maybe ever, since it included protesting, being jailed, and joining the Freedom Ride.
Of course, Person feels the influence of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. both from the pulpit and as a civil rights crusader. But Person is perhaps more affected by the lesser-known Lonnie King, a fellow student instrumental in the civil rights activities on Atlanta’s historically Black Colleges and Universities. I appreciated learning about the various student leaders in Atlanta, especially after reading John Lewis’s March Trilogy a few years ago.
My conclusions
Charles Person is an inspiration. As a young man, he looked outside himself and knew he could make the world better by speaking up. And he and his fellow student activists did just that. They put the pressure on, adding to the other work being done in the Movement. This is also happening in today’s Black Lives Matter movement, likely inspired by early young activists like Person and Lewis.
Buses Are a Comin’ is a strong complement to the existing canon of knowledge about this time in history. However, it wasn’t as absorbing as I hoped it would be. Person and his co-author, Richard Rooker offer context and content. But I missed the intense emotions I expected to find there.
Still, if you’re looking for an inside view, it’s worth picking up. My reservations could be just a question of timing of my read.
After you pair this book with the March Trilogy by the late Rep. John Lewis, please consider reaching out and contributing to the legal defense funds of protesters from the 2020 uprising.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Charles Person was the youngest person on the 1961 Freedom Ride. He was younger even than the legendary John Lewis, who went on to represent an Atlanta area district in the U.S. House of Representatives. Now, Person tells his story in Buses Are a Comin’: Memoir of a Freedom Rider. It publishes on April 27, 2021 and is available for pre-order now.
Person spends the majority of the book explaining where he came from and how he got involved in the groundbreaking bus ride. Despite the turbulent times, he tells his story in surprisingly quiet and calm manner.
Then, at 75%, we board the bus with him, and the intense drama begins. It is valuable to understand all of the lead up information, but I definitely wish Person had spent more time on the Ride. That part of his experience is like nothing the rest of us have experienced.
Nonetheless, it is interesting to read about Person’s family, his early life in one of Atlanta’s poorest neighborhoods, and how he made it to Morehouse College. His freshman year of college was certainly unlike any other freshman that year, and maybe ever, since it included protesting, being jailed, and joining the Freedom Ride.
Of course, Person feels the influence of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. both from the pulpit and as a civil rights crusader. But Person is perhaps more affected by the lesser-known Lonnie King, a fellow student instrumental in the civil rights activities on Atlanta’s historically Black Colleges and Universities. I appreciated learning about the various student leaders in Atlanta, especially after reading John Lewis’s March Trilogy a few years ago.
My conclusions
Charles Person is an inspiration. As a young man, he looked outside himself and knew he could make the world better by speaking up. And he and his fellow student activists did just that. They put the pressure on, adding to the other work being done in the Movement. This is also happening in today’s Black Lives Matter movement, likely inspired by early young activists like Person and Lewis.
Buses Are a Comin’ is a strong complement to the existing canon of knowledge about this time in history. However, it wasn’t as absorbing as I hoped it would be. Person and his co-author, Richard Rooker offer context and content. But I missed the intense emotions I expected to find there.
Still, if you’re looking for an inside view, it’s worth picking up. My reservations could be just a question of timing of my read.
After you pair this book with the March Trilogy by the late Rep. John Lewis, please consider reaching out and contributing to the legal defense funds of protesters from the 2020 uprising.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and the author for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.
March 1, 2021
So I'm wrapping up Black History Month with an extraordinary read. Buses Are a Comin' is a book every American should pick up and is one that would be an excellent addition to any high school curriculum. Although it will not be published until April 27th, mark your calendars for this very important release.
This first-hand account of the Freedom Ride is so incredibly eye-opening and heartbreaking. I thought I knew the story. I thought I understood their plight. Oh, but I knew so little... so little about the sacrifices made, about the human dignity they put on the line, and about the deeply ingrained ignorance those poor souls were up against.
Honestly, to think that our nation was at a place that we would treat human beings with such utter disrespect is unfathomable to me. After reading the memoir, I continued to research and the discovery that saddened me most of all was the fact that the ignorance was perpetuated by all southerners including Christians who based their bigoted attitudes on "Biblical truths". As a Christian myself, I find this incomprehensible and abhorrent.
Charles Person, the author of this book, is undoubtedly an American Hero, as are the other brave Freedom Riders that boarded the public buses in 1961. The strength, tenacity, and selflessness it took to board those buses is beyond commendable. It is extraordinary. If it weren't for the Freedom Riders taking this step to test the validity of the Supreme Court landmark decision, Boynton vs. Virginia, our progress to equality would have been impeded that much longer. It saddens me to no end to think that such things had to be done to overcome obstacles that never should have been in place to begin with.
Thank you, Mr. Person, for sharing your story with us. I am better for having learned what you endured to better our nation. Although we have so far to go, this is a testament to the power of conviction and pacifism.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for gifting me with this early review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Check out more of my reviews at mamasgottaread.blogspot.com or follow me on Insta @mamasgottaread .
This first-hand account of the Freedom Ride is so incredibly eye-opening and heartbreaking. I thought I knew the story. I thought I understood their plight. Oh, but I knew so little... so little about the sacrifices made, about the human dignity they put on the line, and about the deeply ingrained ignorance those poor souls were up against.
Honestly, to think that our nation was at a place that we would treat human beings with such utter disrespect is unfathomable to me. After reading the memoir, I continued to research and the discovery that saddened me most of all was the fact that the ignorance was perpetuated by all southerners including Christians who based their bigoted attitudes on "Biblical truths". As a Christian myself, I find this incomprehensible and abhorrent.
Charles Person, the author of this book, is undoubtedly an American Hero, as are the other brave Freedom Riders that boarded the public buses in 1961. The strength, tenacity, and selflessness it took to board those buses is beyond commendable. It is extraordinary. If it weren't for the Freedom Riders taking this step to test the validity of the Supreme Court landmark decision, Boynton vs. Virginia, our progress to equality would have been impeded that much longer. It saddens me to no end to think that such things had to be done to overcome obstacles that never should have been in place to begin with.
Thank you, Mr. Person, for sharing your story with us. I am better for having learned what you endured to better our nation. Although we have so far to go, this is a testament to the power of conviction and pacifism.
Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for gifting me with this early review copy in exchange for an honest review.
Check out more of my reviews at mamasgottaread.blogspot.com or follow me on Insta @mamasgottaread .
January 31, 2021
Buses Are a Comin’ by Charles Person and with Richard Rooker is a stunning memoir and personal account of a brave and honorable young man, Charles Person whom joined and participated in a peaceful quest and journey within the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s.
This young man was a part of the Original Freedom Riders group that selflessly placed themselves into the spotlight of the unjust segregation and disgusting practice of racism that was heavy and thick during this pivotal time. Shedding light on these practices in a peaceful and nonviolent manner, this young man was respectful and brave in what he did. It was awe inspiring and humbling to see what was done, not only to him and the above-mentioned group, but also to so many that were truly only asking for equal rights. I cannot imagine the inner fear and the outer struggles that he experienced and overcame during this time. His stories and experiences are laid out in this stunning memior and reflection of how far we have come, and yet how far we still have to go to achieve equality for every person.
I will forever remember and be changed from his story. A must read for every human being.
5/5 stars enthusiastically
Thank you NG and St Martin’s Press for this stunning ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.
I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication.
This young man was a part of the Original Freedom Riders group that selflessly placed themselves into the spotlight of the unjust segregation and disgusting practice of racism that was heavy and thick during this pivotal time. Shedding light on these practices in a peaceful and nonviolent manner, this young man was respectful and brave in what he did. It was awe inspiring and humbling to see what was done, not only to him and the above-mentioned group, but also to so many that were truly only asking for equal rights. I cannot imagine the inner fear and the outer struggles that he experienced and overcame during this time. His stories and experiences are laid out in this stunning memior and reflection of how far we have come, and yet how far we still have to go to achieve equality for every person.
I will forever remember and be changed from his story. A must read for every human being.
5/5 stars enthusiastically
Thank you NG and St Martin’s Press for this stunning ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.
I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication.
June 22, 2022
Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and #NetGalley for this digital ARC.
This is well-done memoir from the youngest member of the first Freedom Ride in 1961. Charles Person grew up poor in Atlanta and experienced segregation and discrimination first hand. While studying at Morehouse College, he was inspired by the Greensboro sit-ins to “do something”. So he applied to be part of the first “Freedom Ride” from Washington, DC to New Orleans. Person was one of 12 riders, which was a racially and socially diverse group of men and women of varying ages.
His first-hand account of the hatred, brutality and violence that they endured is upsetting and can be hard to read at times. But we cannot turn away from hard things. There is still work to be done and this memoir helps light the way.
This is well-done memoir from the youngest member of the first Freedom Ride in 1961. Charles Person grew up poor in Atlanta and experienced segregation and discrimination first hand. While studying at Morehouse College, he was inspired by the Greensboro sit-ins to “do something”. So he applied to be part of the first “Freedom Ride” from Washington, DC to New Orleans. Person was one of 12 riders, which was a racially and socially diverse group of men and women of varying ages.
His first-hand account of the hatred, brutality and violence that they endured is upsetting and can be hard to read at times. But we cannot turn away from hard things. There is still work to be done and this memoir helps light the way.
August 31, 2020
“Buses of change are always a comin’. Here is the story of the bus that I got on”.
Charles Person, along with Richard Rooker share the detailed events of the first Freedom Riders bus trip May 4, 1960 from Washington DC to Birmingham, Alabama.
This is the most emotional book I have ever read. The horror, The hate, The atrocities that have been done to humans because of the color of their skin.
This is the most emotional Book I have ever read . The Courage, The Strength, The Tenacity, The Endurance, The Love.
Reading this book encouraged me to delve even deeper in researching the lives, the stories, the faces of ALL who dared to make a difference without using violence.
Charles Person, along with Richard Rooker share the detailed events of the first Freedom Riders bus trip May 4, 1960 from Washington DC to Birmingham, Alabama.
This is the most emotional book I have ever read. The horror, The hate, The atrocities that have been done to humans because of the color of their skin.
This is the most emotional Book I have ever read . The Courage, The Strength, The Tenacity, The Endurance, The Love.
Reading this book encouraged me to delve even deeper in researching the lives, the stories, the faces of ALL who dared to make a difference without using violence.
October 1, 2021
An amazing story! Charles Person was only 18 when he joined the first group of people in the Freedom rides challenging the segregation of buses, bus depots and restaurants in many states, from the South to Washington D.C. He was with a small group of people, black and white that would sit where there were generally not allowed. Of course, they encountered bigotry and hatred, but occasionally kindness as well. Person was awestruck that one of the men (Jim Peck) who joined them was not only white, but a rich man as well. He did not need to do this, where Person felt he must.
This was an engaging story, well, told. We hear how Person joined, you had to apply and he didn’t have much experience fighting for justice, but he had joined a protest that landed him in jail and solitary confinement for singing for freedom a bit too enthusiastically for the jailors. Once picked, he had to convince his parents he could go, as he needed a signature from one of them. This was his first year in college, and his family had their sights on him being one of the first to graduate, so it wasn’t an easy thing asking for a few weeks from college during finals.
Anyway, this review is turning into my telling of the story and it’s better left from the man himself. An excellent book!
Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.
Although I got an advance eBook copy, I ended up reading via audiobook. The narrator did an excellent job and would recommend this version as well.
This was an engaging story, well, told. We hear how Person joined, you had to apply and he didn’t have much experience fighting for justice, but he had joined a protest that landed him in jail and solitary confinement for singing for freedom a bit too enthusiastically for the jailors. Once picked, he had to convince his parents he could go, as he needed a signature from one of them. This was his first year in college, and his family had their sights on him being one of the first to graduate, so it wasn’t an easy thing asking for a few weeks from college during finals.
Anyway, this review is turning into my telling of the story and it’s better left from the man himself. An excellent book!
Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for an uncorrected electronic advance review copy of this book.
Although I got an advance eBook copy, I ended up reading via audiobook. The narrator did an excellent job and would recommend this version as well.
February 8, 2022
This should be required reading for civil rights curriculums. Such a personal, intricate account that unveils those who are overlooked in history, specifically related to the Freedom Rides. The author beautifully ties in how today’s injustices are not so far off from those happening in segregated south not so long ago and offers a call to action for readers to “do something” and “board the bus” when it comes to social justice (eg., police brutality, women’s rights, etc.)
January 23, 2025
I was 4 years old when this story took place, I had no worries, no knowledge of the world I lived in except my own safe home with mom, dad and my 3 brothers.
If I was taught this story in grammar school or high school, I do not recall. I know I had heard about the Freedom Riders, but I didn't KNOW the story.
As I read the book, I would stop and go to newspapers.com and read through the accounts of the day as they were reported. Six decades have passed; it's hard to believe I was alive when it happened, even harder to realize this fight, this struggle still remains.
This is a book that should be required reading for all and a story that should never be erased from our country's history.
If I was taught this story in grammar school or high school, I do not recall. I know I had heard about the Freedom Riders, but I didn't KNOW the story.
As I read the book, I would stop and go to newspapers.com and read through the accounts of the day as they were reported. Six decades have passed; it's hard to believe I was alive when it happened, even harder to realize this fight, this struggle still remains.
This is a book that should be required reading for all and a story that should never be erased from our country's history.
July 9, 2025
I want to educate myself more about the civil rights movement, and every time I do, I am so reminded about how America was never all that great to begin with.
October 13, 2020
It's been well over 50 years since the 1961 Freedom Rides began, perilous journeys involving Black and white, male and female activists who set out from Washington D.C. to find out if America was ready to abide by a recent Supreme Court decision ruling segregation unconstitutional in bus depots, waiting areas, restaurants, and restrooms nationwide.
The answer, they would quickly learn, was "No." Southern states, in particular, would continue to disregard federal law and would often do so through the use of brutal violence.
18-year-old Charles Person was one of the first 13 Freedom Riders, the youngest one during that first trip that was scheduled to go from Washington D.C. to New Orleans but would eventually end in Birmingham, Alabama when one of their two buses was burned to a shell while the other bus was attacked by local Klansmen who'd been assured by the local sheriff that they had 15 minutes before police would arrive. By the time police arrived, the Freedom Riders, including Person, were nearly beaten to death and multiple Freedom Riders sustained life-changing injuries from the relatively brief yet brutal attack.
"Buses Are a Comin': Memoir of a Freedom Rider" is Person's story that he writes alongside Richard Rooker and it's a riveting testimony that jars, disturbs, and refuses to compromise the truths that, sadly, feel just as relevant today.
"Buses Are a Comin'" is written in first-person, an approach that amplifies Person's testimony and gives it all a remarkable sense of urgency. You can practically hear Person speaking the words that he writes, words of youthful enthusiasm and optimism replaced mile-by-mile by the awareness that comes from encountering verbal and physical abuse, relentless name-calling and the growing realization of a world from which his parents had hoped he could be protected.
Of course, such protection would have been impossible. It was made even more impossible by Person's drive to follow the command of his father to "Do Something!," a command given after Person had been denied admission to his college of choice despite meeting all criteria solely because of the color of his skin.
While Charles Person would relent and attend Morehouse College instead, the seeds were planted for a life of doin' something.
If you're anticipating something resembling a textbook accounting of the Freedom Rides, you'd best think again. If you're hoping for something like a greeting card shout of civil rights glee, you'd best think again. "Buses Are a Comin'" is a brutally honest, at times the emphasis is on brutal, testimony of Person's often vile experiences on that first Freedom Ride including the stop in Birmingham that nearly claimed his life along with the lives of those who had joined him.
Person, who had been one of three surviving Freedom Riders from that original trip until Congressman John Lewis recently passed, tells the story in a rather matter-of-fact way. There's certainly no excess drama here because, if we're being honest, the truth is about as dramatic as you can possibly get. That said, "Buses Are a Comin'" also captures the rich human experience that unfolded during the Freedom Ride including the relationships formed, those who provided support, those who risked their lives, and Person's own seeming befuddlement that white folks, in particular, would join in and risk their own lives for equality including one man, who would be left in a wheelchair from the trip, who'd made his fortunes and now made this trip because he wanted every American to have that same opportunity.
While in many ways "Buses Are a Comin'" is almost exactly the book you expect it to be, it's ultimately a far more engaging experience because Person himself is so open and engaging himself. Person has been quoted as saying that "the purpose of a protest is to get people angry" and, in this case, it's perhaps impossible to read "Buses Are a Comin'" without lamenting the hatred that Person and the other Riders encountered and the conflicts, divisions, labels, and hatred that continue to divide us to this day.
An absolute must-read for those engaged in social justice work or who wish to be better informed about the history of racial justice in the U.S., "Buses Are a Comin': Memoir of a Freedom Rider" is an unforgettable reading experience that we truly can't afford to forget if we aspire to a higher vision for America.
The answer, they would quickly learn, was "No." Southern states, in particular, would continue to disregard federal law and would often do so through the use of brutal violence.
18-year-old Charles Person was one of the first 13 Freedom Riders, the youngest one during that first trip that was scheduled to go from Washington D.C. to New Orleans but would eventually end in Birmingham, Alabama when one of their two buses was burned to a shell while the other bus was attacked by local Klansmen who'd been assured by the local sheriff that they had 15 minutes before police would arrive. By the time police arrived, the Freedom Riders, including Person, were nearly beaten to death and multiple Freedom Riders sustained life-changing injuries from the relatively brief yet brutal attack.
"Buses Are a Comin': Memoir of a Freedom Rider" is Person's story that he writes alongside Richard Rooker and it's a riveting testimony that jars, disturbs, and refuses to compromise the truths that, sadly, feel just as relevant today.
"Buses Are a Comin'" is written in first-person, an approach that amplifies Person's testimony and gives it all a remarkable sense of urgency. You can practically hear Person speaking the words that he writes, words of youthful enthusiasm and optimism replaced mile-by-mile by the awareness that comes from encountering verbal and physical abuse, relentless name-calling and the growing realization of a world from which his parents had hoped he could be protected.
Of course, such protection would have been impossible. It was made even more impossible by Person's drive to follow the command of his father to "Do Something!," a command given after Person had been denied admission to his college of choice despite meeting all criteria solely because of the color of his skin.
While Charles Person would relent and attend Morehouse College instead, the seeds were planted for a life of doin' something.
If you're anticipating something resembling a textbook accounting of the Freedom Rides, you'd best think again. If you're hoping for something like a greeting card shout of civil rights glee, you'd best think again. "Buses Are a Comin'" is a brutally honest, at times the emphasis is on brutal, testimony of Person's often vile experiences on that first Freedom Ride including the stop in Birmingham that nearly claimed his life along with the lives of those who had joined him.
Person, who had been one of three surviving Freedom Riders from that original trip until Congressman John Lewis recently passed, tells the story in a rather matter-of-fact way. There's certainly no excess drama here because, if we're being honest, the truth is about as dramatic as you can possibly get. That said, "Buses Are a Comin'" also captures the rich human experience that unfolded during the Freedom Ride including the relationships formed, those who provided support, those who risked their lives, and Person's own seeming befuddlement that white folks, in particular, would join in and risk their own lives for equality including one man, who would be left in a wheelchair from the trip, who'd made his fortunes and now made this trip because he wanted every American to have that same opportunity.
While in many ways "Buses Are a Comin'" is almost exactly the book you expect it to be, it's ultimately a far more engaging experience because Person himself is so open and engaging himself. Person has been quoted as saying that "the purpose of a protest is to get people angry" and, in this case, it's perhaps impossible to read "Buses Are a Comin'" without lamenting the hatred that Person and the other Riders encountered and the conflicts, divisions, labels, and hatred that continue to divide us to this day.
An absolute must-read for those engaged in social justice work or who wish to be better informed about the history of racial justice in the U.S., "Buses Are a Comin': Memoir of a Freedom Rider" is an unforgettable reading experience that we truly can't afford to forget if we aspire to a higher vision for America.
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