In 1947, Rustin participated in the first Freedom Ride across the South, known as the “Journey of Reconciliation” to protest the segregation of interstate bus travel. In Chapel Hill, N.C., local authorities charged Rustin and three white protesters with violating the state's segregation laws. Convicted, they were sentenced to 30 days of hard labor on a chain gang. Rustin's description of his ordeal in the New York Post sparked prison reform in the state and led to abolition of the convict labor system there.

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