Hank Thomas

Freedom Rider Hank Thomas Wins 365Black Award at Essence Music Festival

At the 2011 Essence Music Festival held in New Orleans, Hank Thomas—long-time civil rights activist who was featured in the film Freedom Riders—was honored by the 8th annual 365Black Award. Reflecting on his award, Thomas says: "I see it more as an honor, celebration and recognition of the 50th anniversary of the Freedom Rides. For that, I am extremely proud to have been a foot soldier in the Civil Rights Movement.” To read more, click here.
Photo: Director Stanley Nelson with Freedom Rider Hank Thomas

RAVE REVIEWS FOR FREEDOM RIDERS

The film Freedom Riders has garnered glowing reviews in newspapers, magazines and blogs across the country. See below for a few of these features.

New York Times
"[Freedom Riders] is a story of ennobled youth and noxious hatred, of decided courage and inexplicable brutality...It is hard to imagine a feature film conveying the events with a more vivid sense of drama or suspense."
Ginia Bellafante, New York Times. Click here to read the article.

Colorlines
"In 'Freedom Riders,' Emmy Award-winning filmmaker Stanley Nelson uses masterful storytelling and gripping interviews with key players of the era to document what would eventually become one of the civil rights movement’s major victories."
Jamiliah King, Colorlines. Click here to read the article.

Bloomberg News
"With a thriller’s pace and the emotional heft of a battlefield journal, PBS’s remarkable new documentary 'Freedom Riders' recounts the bloody anti- segregation bus rides of 1961 that helped kill Jim Crow in the Deep South."
Greg Evans, Bloomberg News. Click here to read the article.

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