Catherine Burks-Brooks

Catherine Burks-Brooks (October 8, 1939 – July 3, 2023) was an American civil rights movement activist, teacher, social worker, jewelry retailer, and newspaper editor.

Early life Burks was born on October 8, 1939, near Selma, Alabama, she was however raised in Birmingham, Alabama.

Burks was a student at Tennessee State University. Burks was active in the Mississippi movement and was the co-editor of Mississippi Free Press from 1962 to 1963. Burks taught as an elementary school teacher in 1964. In 1965–1966 she worked as a social worker in Detroit, she later became a jeweler specializing in African jewelry and clothing.

Burks heard about the Freedom Rides from a man named John Lewis. She began to participate in demonstrations he led. In an interview, she states "We had been demonstrating, we had been to jail several times as a matter of fact. I've also been in jail here in Birmingham before the Freedom Ride".

On the second day of the Freedom Ride, May 18, Burks recalled bantering with a segregationist and Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner, Bull Connor as he drove Nashville freedom riders back to the Tennessee state line from jail.

Two days later Burks was caught in the middle of a riot at the Montgomery Greyhound Bus Station. In the film Freedom Riders, Burks clearly recalled an assault on fellow Freedom Rider, Jim Zwerg.