MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) — Civil Rights leader Diane Nash recently gave a speech to Middle Tennessee State University students as part of the school's observance of Constitution Week.
The Daily News Journal of Murfreesboro reports (http://on.dnj.com/2cdrvoY) that Nash spoke Wednesday about using nonviolent protest as a tool — something she calls "agapic energy," the power of love.
In the early days of the civil rights movement, Nash was instrumental in getting lunch counters in downtown Nashville to desegregate. She was also chair of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee and joined the 1961 Freedom Rides to make interstate bus travel accessible to all.
She was even arrested for her participation in the Freedom Rides, but was able to avoid a sentence.
Nash encouraged the students to continue fighting for civil rights through non-violence.