Interview with Freya Rivers
From desegregating Baton Rouge public schools, successful entrepreneur, educator to activist, What a life! An enlightening conversation full of emotion and humor with Living Legend Freya A Rivers.
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Count Time Podcast and Living Legend Freya Rivers
Selected quotes and notes from Count Time Podcast with LD Azobra Interview with Freya Anderson Rivers
Good evening. Good evening. Good evening it’s 4:00 PM. Stand up it’s count time, time for every man and woman to stand up and be counted. Welcome to another edition of Count Time podcast. I am brother LD Azobra formerly named Lyman white. Thank you for joining us today.
And today we have another special guest. She is truly a living legend in so many ways. Awesome storyteller herself. Dear friend here, Dr. Freya Rivers. Welcome to Count Time.
FR
Thank you so much. And thanks for inviting me.
LD
We’re looking forward to a great conversation, a great discussion and a lot of history that I know that you’re going to bring forward. And your story takes so many different directions angles I totally want you to start here and share your story. Some things you went through desegregation here in Baton Rouge Louisiana. You was one of them. That was like the Little Rock. Y’all had 26? That was in 1963.
FR
We desegregated the public schools in Baton Rouge. Well, there were four of us at Lehigh, three black males and myself. I was the only female there. And they started with our senior year in Baton Rouge, which was that was rough.
LD
Where were you before that?
FR
Southern High loved every minute. Yes, I loved high school. I was President of the band at Southern High under Ludwig Freeman. I played clarinet in the band, and we had a wonderful class. In fact, I think there were, like, 14 of us that deseg that year came from the class of Southern High. The class of 63, 64.
There were four of us at Lehigh. The three males were from McKinley originally, and that was Louis Morgan, Murphy Bell And Melvin Patrick at Baton Rouge High. But there were 26 of us that had such a great impact. About 55 years ago.
We developed a family, a Camaraderie that year that just drew us together. On weekends. We would meet at the Y to kind of deprogram us from all of the atrocities we had suffered that week. We also had tutors to help us if we needed any assistance with academics. So we were a pretty close group. We just had to be. We didn’t have anybody else. However, the black schools in the city really supported us that year because Southern High wouldn’t let just outsiders come to their events without approval, prior approval. But when we deseg that year, they welcomed for all activities.
April 30, 2022 @ 1:29 am
LOVE FREYA. KNEW HER FAMILY. SHE WAS/IS A FIEWBALL. HER HUSBAND GRIFFIN IS ASBESTOS COOL.
December 13, 2021 @ 8:32 pm
Freya what a wonderful podcast. I remember that time well. I was so proud to have you and the others represent Southern Lab. Congratulations on all your accomplishments and I can’t wait to meet up again.
December 12, 2021 @ 9:08 pm
Freya, i SO enjoyed listening to this wonderful podcast. Ohhhh my, does this bring back many fond memories. I felt like while listening to you, i was actually in the moment again.
Awww, Mr. Freeman…what a PHENOMENAL Bandmaster…you played that Clarinet soooo Beautifully❤❤🎵🎶
What a wonderful legacy!!!
December 12, 2021 @ 4:53 pm
Listening to Freya talk about her JOURNEY was enlighting to listen to. I remember everything she talked about. I was one of the many classmates she left at Southern High.
We are still friends until this day. Although we are in different states we still travel together as a class and have many reunions throughout the year. Hat goes off to Freya for all her accomplishments and trials she has gone through and still came out a winner. She still continues the work her father started for the better of the black communites and business.
December 12, 2021 @ 1:54 pm
We often look at people and judge them by the appearance that we see with our Naked Eyes. This is such a tremendous tremendous testimony to those of us who are striving everyday to make a difference to leave a path. I thank you so much for this interview and I thank you for her journey. I would like to be added to your email mailing list so I can soak up other person’s journey to help create what God has put in me to do. I pray for you I pray for the success of each and every person that you interview, I pray God’s favor on your life and thank you for being bold enough to give us this interview the last month of 2021