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13 <br /> NOW, THEREFORE, we, the Board of County Commissioners of Orange County, North <br /> Carolina, do proclaim May 2021 as ASIAN AMERICAN AND PACIFIC ISLANDER HERITAGE <br /> MONTH and commend this observance to all Orange County residents. <br /> The 4th day of May, 2021. <br /> Renee Price, Chair <br /> Orange County Board of Commissioners <br /> A motion was made by Commissioner Greene, seconded by Commissioner Hamilton, to <br /> approve and authorize the Chair to sign the proclamation. <br /> Roll call ensued <br /> VOTE: UNANIMOUS <br /> Annette Moore, Human Rights and Relations Director, reviewed the information in the <br /> agenda background, and highlighted the Community Conversation event, taking place on May <br /> 23, 2021 from 3:00 pm to 4:30 p.m. <br /> e. Proclamation Commemorating the 60th Anniversary of the Freedom Rides <br /> The Board considered voting to approve a proclamation commemorating the 60th <br /> anniversary of the Freedom Rides. <br /> BACKGROUND: On May 4, 1961, thirteen black and white civil rights advocates boarded <br /> buses in Washington, DC, to begin a journey on interstate highways through Virginia, North <br /> Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Mississippi, and Louisiana. The Freedom Riders sought to <br /> challenge the enforcement of the United States Supreme Court decisions in Morgan v. Virginia <br /> [1946] and Boynton v. Virginia [1960], which ruled that segregation in bathrooms, waiting <br /> rooms, lunch counters, and in interstate transportation facilities, including bus terminals, was <br /> unconstitutional. <br /> The Freedom Rides occurred during a time when the Civil Rights movement was gathering <br /> momentum, when African American in the South were routinely harassed and subjected to <br /> segregation by Jim Crow laws. The Congress of Racial Equality ("CORE") organized the <br /> Freedom Rides under the leadership of James Farmer. CORE sought application from diverse <br /> men and women of various ages from across the United States. Among the first thirteen <br /> selected was Reverend Benjamin Elton Cox, a retired minister at Pilgrim Congregation Church <br /> in High Point, North Carolina. The Honorable John Lewis, then 21, represented the Nashville <br /> Branch of CORE and was a member of the original thirteen Freedom Riders. The original froup <br /> of Freedom Riders prepared by completing a few days of training on role-playing, preparing <br /> how to respond to nonviolent ways to harassment. <br /> • May 4, 1961 - Greyhound and Trailways buses leave Washington, DC for New <br /> Orleans. John Lewis and another rider beaten in Rock Hill, South Carolina. <br />