Leading the march is John R. Lewis and Archie E. Allen. The Freedom March was sponsored by the Projects Committee of the Nashville Christian Leadership Council. According to Reverend Kelly Miller Smith, the “Freedom March was designed to emphasize that the current movement was a people’s movement and not just a leader’s cause.” The marchers started at the campus of Tennessee State A & I, down 8th Avenue North, then into the downtown area.
The Freedom March was the largest planned organized protest in Nashville since the 1960s downtown sit-ins.
