Exploration 7 - Emily Shearer

After watching Ain’t Scared of Your Jails, I realized that if someone wants something bad enough and they aren’t afraid to fight for what they want, they can make it happen. It might not be easy, but no one said it would be. The students that started the non-violent protests were young, and if they had the integrity to stand up to authority figures to change what needed to be changed, anyone can. It is truly inspiring to see people come together to fight for one goal. The film taught me that it is okay to ask questions… Diane Nash asked the mayor of Nashville a straightforward question and got the answer that she had already known. She asked Mayor West, “Do you believe that it is morally right for black customers to not be served food at counters or be discriminated against solely based on the color of their skin?” Mayor West responded to her question honestly, and said that he did not believe that it was morally right to do those things based on a person’s race. From one simple question that a student asked, things started looking up; blacks began to gain more freedom. More trials came up, but once again, they fought for what they thought was right, and the song from the beginning of the documentary sang, “Keep your eyes on the prize.” That is exactly what they did, and they managed to do it without violence.

John Lewis, a Freedom Rider, talked about how, on May 3rd, 1961, an interracial group of 12 people went out to dinner at a Chinese restaurant. There were seven whites and six blacks. He described it as the last supper, almost, because they didn’t know what to expect. On May 14th, the two buses for the Freedom Ride left Atlanta and were on their way to Birmingham, and one of the buses were bombed by a mob. 12 riders were sent to the hospital and the bus was destroyed.

                
The protests being non-violent made all the difference. Because there was a non-violent attitude, it made their point more clear. They should not have had to be violent for something that should be a right to everyone. During the sit-ins, they were non-violent because it was not normal for blacks to sit and be served at the counters when it should have been normal for any person, regardless of the color of their skin to be served at a counter. The protests would not have been quite as successful or effective had they decided to use violence as a tactic.