Dion Diamond

Dion Tyrone Diamond (born February 7, 1941) is an American civil rights activist.

Dion Diamond was born February 7, 1941, in Petersburg, Virginia.

This is where Diamond spent the first 18 years of his life before attending Howard University in Washington D.C. Segregation was common in Petersburg, Virginia, and something Dion Diamond saw a lot of while he was growing up.

In Petersburg, Diamond began to oppose segregation by going to white only restaurants, bathrooms, water fountains and other white only areas to annoy people.

He said he would go to white only areas, and when he was instructed to leave, he would not listen until the police were called.

Diamond describes these events as the beginning of his activism.

His leadership qualities started at a young age as he was president of his high school class and member of their student council.

Diamond was the president of the Howard freshman class.

While at Howard University, Dion Diamond noticed how segregation was prominent when crossing into Maryland or Virginia, but not very segregated in Washington D.C. Dion Diamond and others at Howard organized a group called the Nonviolent Action Group.

This group attended sit-ins in Virginia and North Carolina to come up with methods to oppose segregation.

Sit-ins included going to white only areas with a group of black people to try to desegregate that area.

The group desegregated an entire area in Alexandria, Virginia in two weeks.

They also had a run in with American Nazi party leader, George Lincoln Rockwell.

During this sit in, other American Nazi members came in and surrounded Diamond and the Non Violent Action Group.

In the summer of 1960, Diamond and the Nonviolent Action group picketed and protested Glen Echo Park in Maryland.

His most notable form of activism was the Freedom Rides, which started in March 1961.

Although Diamond was not one of the original 13 freedom riders, he ended up being part of the group.

The Freedom Ride almost ended after the burning of the bus in Anniston, Alabama, but several of Diamond and his constituents at Howard insisted on continuing the freedom rides.

They ventured to Montgomery, Alabama and continued the ride to Jackson, Mississippi.

They were escorted by state police and the National Guard.

A deal had been made between Bobby Kennedy and the governor of Mississippi.

The deal was cut to ensure the Freedom Riders would not be beaten, but would be arrested immediately if they did not move on.

The charges were considered a "breach of peace."

Diamond said as long as the newspapers followed and covered them, their activism would be heard around the United States.

Although it was the National Guard's job to ensure the safety of the freedom riders, Diamond noted that the members of the national guard were often the same people who opposed their Civil Rights movements.

Dion Diamond believed it was a bad idea to start a fight or resist in Jackson during the freedom rides.

After stopping in Jackson, Diamond and others were arrested and sent to the county jail in Mississippi.

Although they were arrested early because Diamond was in one of the first buses that arrived in Jackson, he was pleased to hear that many others followed their lead and continued the bus rides into Jackson.

Diamond was selected to attend a month long seminar for Civil Rights Activists.

Diamond has exclaimed he could not possibly imagine going through his life by just turning his cheek, and is proud he was able to influence and help others.

Diamond believes young people's lack of knowledge of the civil rights movement is dangerous because this may revert to racism and segregation again.

In 1963, he transferred to the University of Wisconsin, where he majored in history and sociology.

He noted that while attending the University of Wisconsin there were approximately 50 black students out of 18,000 students.

After the University of Wisconsin, Diamond attended Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where he got involved with race relations and sociology.

Similar to Wisconsin, he was typically the only black student in his classes at Harvard, where students and professors would always defer to him when talking about race relations.

Diamond said at times he felt uncomfortable by this role, but he came to embrace it because he was able to influence others.

he says he regrets not forming many relationships at Wisconsin or Harvard.

Diamond claims he believes in nonviolence as a tactic but not as a philosophy.

As a tactic, he believed nonviolence was a smart approach because this would refrain him or his group from being involved with police.

However, he says he does not believe this as a philosophy because this is how people could physically take advantage of them when authorities were not around.