Charles Person facts for kids
Charles Person (September 27, 1942 – January 8, 2025) was an African-American civil rights activist who was the youngest Freedom Rider of the 1961 Freedom Rides.
Life
Person was born in Atlanta, Georgia on September 27, 1942. His father was an orderly at Emory University Hospital. He was a gifted math and physics student, with aspirations to become a scientist. In high school, he was a member of his local NAACP Youth Council. Following his 1960 graduation from David Tobias Howard High School, Person attended Morehouse College. As a Freshman at Morehouse, he became active in the civil rights movement, joining a student organization called the Atlanta Committee on Appeal for Human Rights. Person received his first jail sentence, a sixteen-day trip, after a sit-in in 1961. The students in these sit-ins practiced non-violent tactics, which helped make the threats and attacks less interesting for the whites trying to intimidate them. He gained the attention of CORE recruiters that were looking for an Atlanta Freedom Rider. As a minor, he needed a parent signature to participate. His mother refused to sign, but he was able to convince his father.
Person was selected by the Congress of Racial Equality to join the Freedom Rides in 1961. His memoir Buses Are a Comin': Memoir of a Freedom Rider was published by St. Martin's Press in 2021. Charles most recently established the Freedom Riders Training Academy, a comprehensive curriculum on nonviolent resistance. The program, co-founded by Pete Conroy, of the Freedom Riders Park Board, was designed to educate individuals about the principles of peaceful demonstration and the lasting significance of First Amendment rights. Participants learn to exercise these rights responsibly and within the boundaries of the law, promoting constructive and lawful engagement.
