An Analysis of Freedom Riders The Documentary by Stanley...

Stanley Nelson chronicles the journey of a group of individuals, known as the Freedom Riders, whom fought for the rights of African Americans to have the same amenities and access as the Caucasians. The purpose of the Freedom Rides was to deliberately violate the Jim Crow laws of the south that prohibited blacks and whites from mixing together on buses and trains. Expectedly, many of the Freedom Riders were beaten and the majority was imprisoned. This carried on for the majority of 1961 and culminated with the Interstate Commerce Commission issuing an order to end the segregation in bus and rail stations. Nelson encapsulates this entire movement in about two hours. At the end of the two hours, the viewer is emotionally tied to the†¦show more content†¦It gives us one of the many messages the movement gave us, which is that the strength of a movement lays within the determination of the people. It is immediately conveyed when the shot began with Rep. Lewis’ words â₠¬Å"and that nothing, but nothing, was going to stop this movement.† Nelson slowly backs out of the shot to reveal more members of the Freedom Riders as the music intensifies. This reveals the gradual increase of participation in the Freedom Rides. The shot began with just one white person and Nelson is conveying the small number of whites that participated in the beginning. As the shot expands, more white people are included proportionately to the blacks (more blacks than whites). While the shot is backing out, Nelson randomly replaces one Rider with another. I believe that he is suggesting while each rider was autonomous, they were all one. As one, they all share the collective goal of ultimately destroying segregation. The music that is playing in the background lends incredible support to the shot. Nelson is trying to create a sense of understanding of what these individuals endured while at the same time creating a sense of optimism that the hardships the Freedom Riders en dured would not be in vein. The collection of Riders fades, as the music continues to play, to a newspaper heading that reads â€Å"ICC Forbids Bus station Segregation.† Quickly, it fades to another headline that reads â€Å"Bus Terminals Told to Mix Up or Close Up† as historian Raymond