BLACK IN TIME: A Moment In OUR History

Hugh Gaddy · Monday, February 1st 2010 at 1:16AM · 131 views

The Greensboro 4

On Monday, February 4, 1960, At 4:30PM, Four Freshmen From North Carolina Agricultural And Technical College (North Carolina A&T) -- Ezell Blair, Jr., David Richmond, Joseph McNeil And Franklin McCain, Sat Down At The Lunch Counter Of The Local F. W. Woolworth Store, And Ordered Coffee And Cherry Pie. This Bold Act Defied The Jim Crow Laws That Permitted Blacks To Shop In The Store But Not Eat A Meal There. After Being Refused Service, The Young Men Began Reading Their Textbooks, Sending The Message That They Were Not Leaving Until They Were Served Or The Store Closed. The "Greensboro 4," As They Were Called, Returned The Next Morning With More A&T Students. On Wednesday 70 Students Joined The Protest, Including Women From Nearby Bennett College And Some White Students From Other Local Schools. By This Time The Greensboro Sit-In Had Become A National News Story. On Thursday,150 A&T Students Moved Down The Street And Staged A Similar Sit-In In The S. H. Kress & Co. Store. Other Demonstations Began Taking Place Throughout The South. The Greensboro Sit-In Is Credited With Re-Igniting The Civil Rights Movement In America -- Transforming The Older Generation's "Don't-Rock The-Boat" Tactics To A More Militant, Protest-Based Platform. "In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." - Hubert Gaddy, Jr.

Hugh Gaddy

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BLACK IN TIME: A Moment In OUR History

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