North Texas man recalls joining Freedom Riders in 1961

This past weekend in 1961, civil rights activists launched the Freedom Rides designed to desegregate public transportation.

They climbed aboard Greyhound and Trailways buses to ride in segregated states in the south. And those rides turned violent.

Charles Myers, a 79-year-old Frisco resident, was attending the historically black college Central State University at the time. Of all the universities that accepted him, Central State was the only one to grant him a scholarship.

When he learned of the Freedom Rides, he and his then-girlfriend joined the perilous journey, with determination and uncertainty.

FOX 4 photojournalist Brad Kaplan’s video takes a look back at their historic mission.