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James Leonard Farmer,Jr. was born
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His first segregation experience was with his mom when they were shopping in town. He really wanted a Coca-Cola, but his mom had told him that he had to wait until they got home. He didn’t understand why because he watched another boy go inside and buy a coke. His mother had to tell him that because the other boy was white he could and that because he was colored he couldn’t.
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While studying at Howard University, James learned about Gandhi and his non-violent civil resistance.
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at Howard University
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Farmer was invited to the White House to talk with President Roosevelt
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originally the Committee of Racial Equality, but changes its name a year later to Congress of Racial Equality
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Farmer & Lula were married until her death in 1977. They had 2 children.
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Was elected to be the National Director of CORE in Frebruary, 1961.
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He worked on lauching the Freedom Riders to fight against segregation on bus travel. In May, 1961, Farmer Jr. launched the first ride. He belived that African American's had the right to get on a bus without being segregated.
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After resigning from leading CORE, Farmer published his book "Freedom-When?" in 1965.
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ran for U.S. Congress as a Liberal Party candidate backed by the Republican Party, but lost to Shirley Chisholm
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the newly elected President Richard Nixon offered him the position of Assistant Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. The next year, frustrated by the Washington bureaucracy, Farmer resigned from the position.
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published Lay Bare the Heart
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President Bill Clinton awarded him the Presidential Medal of Freedom
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from complications with diabates
