I had a friend whom I’d grown up with, we were running buddies, if you know what I mean. We did a lot of . . . things together. We lost track of each other, but when I found out about the Freedom Rides, I discovered he was helping organize the effort in New Orleans. I told him I wanted to be a Freedom Rider.

"You do something nonviolent?" he said. "That’s a laugh."

I insisted.

He said, "You’ll need training." I said fine.

Then he slapped me real hard. "OK," he said. "You’ve been trained."

— From an interview with the photographer.

Mug shot courtesy of the Mississippi Department of Archives and History.

Portrait © 2006 by Eric Etheridge