Born James Leonard Farmer Jr to his parents Pearl Houston and James L. Farmer Sr. James Farmer lived a very good and impactful life. James changed and impacted people all over the United States with him being a leader of the civil rights movement and headed the Congress of Racial Equality. Also, James organized the historic Freedom Rides of 1961. James grew up surrounded by literature and learning which made him an excellent student, because of his excellence in school, James skipped grades and became a freshman at Wiley College in 1934 at the age of 14. At Wiley college, James continued to excel and became a star college debator for the school. While getting his divinity degree from Howard University in 1941, James started studying much of Ghandi's philosophies and would later apply Gandhi's ideas of nonviolent civil resistance to U.S. racial desegregation. Committed to racial harmony, James and his friend George Houser and a multi-racial group of colleagues formed the Committee of Racial Equality, with the name later being changed to Congress of Racial Equality. As the Civil Rights Movement was gaining national attention, James was elected to become National director of CORE in February 1961. James then became one of the most prominent African-American leaders of the era, joining the ranks of figures like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Roy Wilkins. James worked on launching the Freedom Rides with the intention of challenging segregation on interstate bus travel. The first ride was launched in May of 1961, with the bus firebombed upon reaching Alabama after travel through several states. Other riders were mobilized, yet the brutality was horrifying, with one rider having been beaten so badly he was left paralyzed for life and protesters jailed in masses in Jackson, Mississippi. Audiences around the world were able to see via television violent racism at work, and in September of 1961 the Interstate Commerce Commission declared segregation impermissible in Southern public travel facilities and modes of transport.  Farmer eventually resigned from leading CORE in the mid-1960s. His book Freedom—When? was published in 1966 and, after a stint teaching at Lincoln University, he ran unsuccessfully for Congress on the Republican ticket against Democrat Shirley Chisolm in 1968. He later worked in the administration of President Richard Nixon, though he left in frustration. James Farmer received a lot of medals throughout his life but one of his most noticeable ones is his Presidential Medal of Freedom given to him by Bill Clinton. Unfortunately, Farmer had been suffering greatly from diabetes during his later years. He died on July 9, 1999, in Fredericksburg, Virginia, at the age of 79. James Farmer was an inspiration to many and will forever be remembered.