“You Don’t Have to Ride Jim Crow” honored by NABJ

In 1947, fourteen years before the famous Freedom Rides of the early 1960s, a small group of courageous civil rights activists boarded buses and trains to fight segregation laws in the South. Their
little-known story was captured by Wisconsin Public Radio’s Robin Washington, who brought the survivors of the ride together to retrace their trip and film it for what would become an acclaimed public television documentary in 1995.

Last year, Washington marked the 75th anniversary of their ride by adapting the program for broadcast on WPR. Now, that radio adaptation, “You Don’t Have to Ride Jim Crow!,” has won best documentary honors in the National Association of Black Journalists’ “Salute To Excellence” awards.