American Experience; Freedom Riders; Interview with Ernest Patton, Jr. (Rip), 1 of 2

ok ok well what is the army of song in the city and then when you can sing verses into rental car again union was one verse one universe master mattress were so rare much as they could take okay so say you know in the song oh while we were in part one we would go see a lot of singing and when they wanted us to stop we would always start singing and one of the songs that we were singing for example they took a mattresses want them or threaten to take matters and we start singing you can take our workers oh yes you can take our mattress oh yeah you can't take our mattress you can take our mattress you can take on a mattress or

years and of course we've got we've had nurses and the guards they just hate it because we would sing all the time but whenever they would take some away from us that was once on the table here there is growing diane roberts special person she came from chicago and knows the veracity memory would say up self they had the same kind of segregation that we had here in nashville the difference was they didn't have the science and that the cuts as the white side she came to nashville because there's sure to be a student this guy wanted to she want to marry someone from america medical college and when she went downtown and found that things are different and she saw the science and that she knew she couldn't be served this brought about a change in her life and then when i bought last month international and started teaching the workshops she became very interested in the workshops and now

the rest is history so for you well diane nash came from chicago she enrolled at risk because she had planned to come to nashville and wrote this and now to find her good education from this one by marilyn and mary which was right across the street she went downtown one day and found out that things were a little bit different than in chicago see the ct vivian refers to cut chicago is up so and they just don't have the sign that inhabit coats on snow white silent when diana went downtown she saw the signs the white signs in the coach times and you say well i need to do something about this and then when

dr lawson came to nashville and started the workshops she became a part of the workshops and the next thing you know she was low and says our leader one of our student leaders you and i so you know catherine carpenter you know just he's a four over this dress you know no one realize how many well that was a different time when we were in school we dressed kid wearing jeans and sweatshirts we dressed

quite often and you could tell the dress will the formal identity you could tell a guy's that were from east st louis are from birmingham simply because of the hats or the issues or their suits and so the ladies they dressed the only time i ever wore for example in jeans and sweat shirt was because i was in a band and i had their rehearsal in the evening by going today i dressed know just the way it was in the day businesses you know the allies do you have any

well another thing happens a lot of the workshops where fisk university are an area fisk university and this was a motive for some nice looking ladies at that time and my wife i met are fisk university but durr we would go that was a time when the ladies looked good they dressed well and i don't think it was that the man will fall and the women as just that that was a time when we were getting involved in the civil rights movement and i don't think anything to do with the women well but they want something that happen in one of the meetings a young man asked dr lawson says they're not at this lady who's sitting next to me at a lunch counter and she has an impact what am i supposed to do and that loss and say you're not doing anything coming into ports through

in your own ground here are you suppose to maintain and not do a thing that the reason was that this young lady is here because she wants to be a part of the movement and she knows that there's pass this possible that she will be attacked so i don't have anything to do with boardman and try and catch them do it only knew was that katherine would go on at this guy he wanted to know why are you going to do that because that was something most of the tennessee state gas or do we go with this because that's where the drug better looking ladies were also want who were financially federal and wanted to stay but it was in a part of the movement but he knew his girlfriend will go into

a job but i don't think it had i mean what they basically that was in the hinds county jail simply because the way they are jewels set of that seizes india hence county jail we would sing back and forth that we have a small group about jail cell would that really consisted of all black males and we had a quartet and i was part of the quartet and we would sing to the ladies late at night when things were quiet and then they would say back to us and the reason for that singing was to let them know that we were ok and they let us know that they were ok but rather than try to haul out on how are you and things like that and we were always saying to them and then of course their response would be the same just let them know that there are

things aren't any of those headlines when we were announced county jail we'd wait till late evening when things were quiet and the men would sing to the women and to let them know that there are things ok and amends a part of the jail and the women would sing back hurts let them let us know that there are things ok with them one of the songs i mean give me a few words one of the songs was it is i know it is iowa will meet a day when and there were other verses that that those basically what it was that eventually when we get out the would be

together again and we would probably sing that song every night timothy woo is going to do i don't think this is about how you know the nails in and ruined home for well here in nashville first of all we were trained for a few months probably six months or more we went into training on what to do in emergency situations we knew the inside outside of the stores were going to picket and so on april thirteen i'm sorry there were thirty nineteen sixty was our first sitting here in nashville and it was a successful senator and sorrow we were from dappled setting and it will work and will work on those stores

nationwide and the thing to spread like wildfire throughout the united states because we were concentrating here and natural on the stove and laura krantz and other stores downtown picasso's the only place to shop was downtown there were no shopping malls and shopping centers all the buses that you would have to ride downtown and they all come downtown and you do your shopping and you go home a force blacks were concerned that's what libya because you couldn't eat at the lunch counters <unk> that blacks couldn't deduce only do their shopping online and we would put a change to that by palestinian demonstrations so when we get sued and if there were twelve schools for example at woolworth we knew to send twelve students into that store and you make unique thing about that was when they were arrested we had twelve more

students at the back of the store are ready to fill those twelve empty seats and the object was to fill the jails and of course a lot of singing going on in the city jail's here in nashville go out that they were the jails will feel that they had some of the syrian people to bail him out the street sweepers and bernard was one of those street sweepers which gave them a chance to talk to people on the street mr messenger what they want to do not restrict the sweep the street and talked to the pastor lies about the senate