Carol Ruth Silver and Claude Liggins stand by a plaque commemorating the efforts of the Freedom Riders who challenged racial segregation in public places throughout the South more than 50 years ago. Silver and Liggins, two of the Freedom Riders, will share their stories during a panel discussion at the Chandler Center for the Arts on Jan. 10.(Photo: Chandler)

The memories Claude Liggins carries with him from more than 53 years ago are vivid. What triggered them remains essential to who he is today. Their message also remains as relevant now as in 1961 in Mississippi and Louisiana.

Liggins was among hundreds Black and White who hopped aboard buses and trains in 1961 to challenge lingering segregation in public places throughout the South. They became known as Freedom Riders, many of them encountering violence and arrest, hoping to force changes to long-established racial separation in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana and other Southern states.

Liggins, 74, who is Black, will be in Chandler Jan. 9-10 , along with San Francisco attorney Carol Ruth Silver, who is White and also among the Freedom Riders. They will appear at the panel discussion "The Road to Freedom" at the Chandler Center for the Arts on Jan. 10, reliving threats, violence and legal repercussions they encountered in the name of racial justice. The forum is co-sponsored by the arts center, Chandler, East Valley Jewish Community Center and Chandler Unified School District. The two will meet the previous day with hundreds of high school and middle school students.

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Liggins, in an interview with The Republic, recalled how he got involved in what would become among the most memorable and important events during the civil-rights movement of the 1950s and '60s.

"I had been looking for the opportunity to do something," he said, recalling that at the time, he was enrolled in Los Angeles City College, landing there after leaving his hometown of Lake Charles, La.

In the spring of 1961, he got his opportunity after he learned through news reports about a group that was embarking on a bus trip from Washington, D.C., though Southern states to peacefully challenge racial segregation that was continuing in public places, such as bus and train stations. The effort was organized by Congress for Racial Equality, and inspired Liggins to head to the area to join similar efforts the group was organizing. Before he left, Liggins remembers hearing that one of the buses from the Washington group had been firebombed in Alabama.

The Freedom Riders' bus was firebombed by an angry mob in Alabama.(Photo: Chandler)

"I remember saying, 'Damn, I should've been on that bus,' " he said. "I wanted to participate to make a change."

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Freedom Rider brings civil rights story to Chandler