James (Jim) Zwerg was an activist during the American Civil Rights movement, He became involved in the movement after rooming with a black student at Beloit College in Wisconsin and witnessing discrimination firsthand. He was one of the Freedom Riders, activists who forced integration on interstate buses during the American Civil Rights movement. The buses were ambushed in Montgomery, Alabama, and James Zwerg received the brunt of the attacks, having been the first one off the bus. He delivered a speech from his hospital room after the attacks, saying  “Segregation must be stopped. It must be broken down. Those of us on the Freedom Ride will continue…. We’re dedicated to this, we’ll take hitting, we’ll take beating. We’re willing to accept death. But we’re going to keep coming until we can ride from anywhere in the South to any place else in the South without anybody making any comments, just as American citizens.”

Also, he had a face like an angel.