Nashville civil rights veteran Diane Nash to be honored with Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nashville civil rights veteran Diane Nash to be honored with Presidential Medal of Freedom
Kirsten Fiscus & Cassandra Stephenson
Nashville Tennessean
July 1, 2022
Nashville civil rights veteran Diane Nash, who led sit-ins, coordinated freedom rides and was jailed while pregnant for teaching minors nonviolent protest tactics, will be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom.
. . . Nash, born in Chicago, moved to Nashville when she transferred to Fisk University in 1959. Incensed by the overt racism she was not accustomed to in Illinois, Nash joined Rev. James Lawson's nonviolence workshops where they role-played as demonstrators and attackers to ready themselves for all possibilities.
Nash was elected chairperson of the Nashville movement and she and the Student Central Committee staged sit-ins at lunch counters across the city.
In 1960, when the home of attorney and civil rights activist Z. Alexander Looby was bombed, Nash wanted to march albeit silent and prayerful. She walked thousands of students down Jefferson Street to the courthouse steps. There, she was met by Mayor Ben West. ...
https://www.tennessean.com/story/news/local/2022/07/01/diane-nash-civil-rights-presidential-medal-of-freedom/7790808001/
https://www.tennessean.com/picture-gallery/news/local/2022/07/01/nashville-civil-rights-hero-diane-nash-through-years-photos/7793088001/
?width=660&height=500&fit=crop&format=pjpg&auto=webp
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_Nash