Show of the week: American Experience: Freedom Riders

In 1961, civil-rights activists came up with a daring plan to desegregate interstate trains and buses in the Deep South: by sending people there to deliberately violate Jim Crow laws. Through the accounts of Freedom Riders themselves, including current U.S. Rep. John Lewis, this sobering but inspiring documentary recounts how hundreds of Americans, black and white alike, faced mob beatings, hatred, and imprisonment to advance the dream of securing racial equality by nonviolent means. Monday, May 16, at 9 p.m., PBS; check local listings

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