In 1961, Hank Thomas barely escaped death attempting to integrate interstate travel accommodations. The struggle galvanized civil rights activists across the South.

The Freedom Ride movement almost ended in Alabama on May 14, 1961, when Hank Thomas and six other Riders nearly died on a bus that white supremacists set on fire in rural Alabama, where the Ku Klux Klan reigned.

Podcast transcript available here

Hank Thomas shares the story of how the Riders' journey descended into hours of vicious violence in Alabama.

After Hank and his fellow Freedom Riders were viciously attacked, new Riders poured into the South for months, risking everything to force the country to face the hateful actions upholding unlawful, racist practices.

The “Seven Days of 1961” podcast features stories of resistance, told by the people who lived it. Learn more about the heroic civil rights activists and the danger they faced at 7daysof1961.usatoday.com.