2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. There were also sit-ins in Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis and Columbia, Missouri, says John L. Swaine, CEO of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum. WATCH: The Civil Rights Movement on HISTORY Vault. He then went into computer sales and worked as a stockbroker and commercial banker. They have three children, one of whom graduated from A & T. Do you find this information helpful? SNCC worked alongside the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to push passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and would later mount an organized resistance to the Vietnam War. Blair was president of the junior class, the student government association, the campus NAACP and the Greensboro Congress of Racial Equality. The Greensboro Four stayed put until the store closed, then returned the next day with more students from local colleges. The movement was about simple dignity, respect, access, equal opportunity, and most importantly the legal and constitutional concerns., READ MORE:8 Steps That Paved the Way to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The protests and the subsequent events were major milestones in the Civil Rights Movement. Google Birthday: October 18, 1941 How Old - Age: 81 Recently Passed Away Celebrities and Famous People. They were all students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro. By the spring of 1960 the sit-in movement spread to 54 cities in nine states in the South. in sociology in 1963. While lunch counter sit-ins had taken place before, the four young men from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University drew national attention to the cause. The figures are depicted walking out of Woolworth's . All Rights Reserved. The Greensboro sit-in was a major moment in the Civil Rights Movement. Each of the participants in the sit-in had different catalysts, but it is clear that the four men had a close friendship that mutually reinforced their desire to act. In addition to desegregating dining establishments, the sit-ins led to the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Raleigh. As he had been labeled a "troublemaker" for his role in the Greensboro Sit-Ins, life in Greensboro became difficult for Khazan. Another critical part of the protest was looping in the media. Nadra Nittle is a veteran journalist who is currently the education reporter for The 19th. From left to right: Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair, Jr.), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeill, and David Richmond. The Greensboro sit-ins are considered one of the biggest events of the Civil Rights Movement and set the standard for modern nonviolent protest and resistance. He graduated from James B. Dudley High School in 1959 and began his freshman year at A&T College having received an A&T College Alumni Association Scholarship. Jan 27, 2020. [3] In 1963, Khazan graduated from A&T College with a Bachelor's degree in sociology and Social Studies. At the time of the protest, he was a student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he was studying engineering. They were taking place in a lot of places before Greensboro., READ MORE: Follow the Freedom Riders' Journey Against Segregation. SNCC activists such as John Lewis took part in the 1961 Freedom Rides, the 1963 March on Washington, and the 1963 Freedom Summer effort. For starters, according to History.com, they were upset about the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, who was slain after being accused of whistling at a white woman in Mississippi. By the early 1970s, SNCC had lost much of its mainstream support and was effectively disbanded. Jibreel Khazan (born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr.; October 18, 1941) is a civil rights activist who is best known as a member of the Greensboro Four; a group of African American college students who, on February 1, 1960, sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina challenging the store's policy of denying service to non-white customers. Eventually, they prevailed, and Woolworths stopped segregating its dining area on July 25th, 1960, Google reports. As demonstrations spread to 13 states, the focus of the sit-ins expanded, with students not only protesting segregated lunch counters but also segregated hotels, beaches and libraries. He attended law school at Howard University for almost a year before a variety of maladies forced him out. The students came to be called the Greensboro Four. Ezell Blair Jr. was the son of a teacher who received his B.S. Eventually the manager closed the store early and the men leftwith the rest of the customers. Get the latest news, sports and weather delivered straight to your inbox. Jibreel Khazan (born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr.; October 18, 1941) is a civil rights activist who is best known as a member of the Greensboro Four, a group of African American college students who, on February 1, 1960, sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina challenging the store's policy of After graduation, He briefly studied law at Howard University Law School in Washington, DC. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. In 1958, Khazan heard King speak at the local Bennett College. In some cases, they may conflict with strongly held cultural values, beliefs or restrictions. His 1964 interview describes the Greensboro sit-ins in Chapter 5 of Who Speaks for the Negro? On February 1st, 1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina, four A&T freshmen students, Ezell Blair, Jr. (Jibreel Khazan), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and David Richmond walked downtown and "sat - in" at the whites-only lunch counter at F.W. After graduating from A&T in 1963, Blair encountered difficulties finding a job in his native Greensboro. As he had been labeled a "troublemaker" for his role in the Greensboro Sit-Ins, life in Greensboro became difficult for Khazan. Together they have three children. Forego a bottle of soda and donate its cost to us for the information you just learned, and feel good about helping to make it available to everyone. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Khazan received his early education from Dudley High School, where his father taught. Khazan works with developmentally disabled people for the CETA program in New Bedford, Mass. Spectrum News Text and Email Alerts Sign-up, California Consumer Limit the Use of My Sensitive Personal Information, California Consumer Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. We strive for accuracy and fairness. In 1991, Khazan received an honorary doctorate of humanities degree from North Carolina A&T State University. Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities 2023 |. The Belles resolved to serve as look-outs when the four men took their seats at the lunch counter on the first day. The Greensboro sit-in is the subject of a Google Doodle on February 1, 2020 for the 60th anniversary of the action. David Richmond died young. By the spring of 1960 the sit-in movement spread to 54 cities in nine states in the South. While a student at A & T he was elected to attend the meeting at Shaw University in Raleigh at which the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was formed. He attended law school at Howard University for almost a year before a variety of maladies forced him out. He continued his education at Massachusetts University and later at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied voice.[7]. Click here to sign up for email and text alerts. But the students did not budge. On February 1, 1960, the four students sat down at the lunch counter at the Woolworths in downtown Greensboro, where the official policy was to refuse service to anyone but whites. Woolworth's whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro to protest segregation. Counters in other cities did the same in subsequent months. David Richmond, the fourth member and McCain's freshman college roommate, died in 1990. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. Death Fact Check Ezell is alive and kicking and is currently 81 years old. These materials may be graphic or reflect biases. Their names were Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil. Ezell Blair, Sr. and his wife, Corene, were the parents of Jibreel Khazan, (Ezell A. Blair Jr.) one of the four North Carolina A&T State University students who participated in the first sit-in at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro on February 1, 1960. Denied service, the four young men refused to give up their seats. Together they have three children. Blair, along with Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, and David Richmond, decided to stage the sit-in protest as a way of challenging the racial segregation that was prevalent in their community. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. TV Shows. Did you know? Each of the participants in the sit-in had different catalysts, but it is clear that the four men had a close friendship that mutually reinforced their desire to act. The year was 1960, and segregation raged throughout the country, but the students decided they had had enough. He went on to work for Celanese Corporation in Charlotte, North Carolina for 35 years, and he stayed active in the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. See MoreSee Less, Today In HistoryEdward Kennedy Duke Ellington, the legendary composer and bandleader, was born in Washington, DC, on April 29, 1899. None of it deterred the protesters. A&T freshmen Ezell Blair Jr. (now known as Jibreel Khazan), Joseph McNeil and the late David Richmond and Franklin McCain ignited a movement at the segregated downtown F.W. By simply remaining in their seats peacefully and quietly, they flummoxed the staff and left them unsure on how to enforce their whites-only rule. All Rights Reserved. We provide access to these materials to preserve the historical record, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices, or behaviors found within them. Khazan stated that he had seen a documentary on Mohandas Gandhi's use of "passive insistence" that had inspired him to act. "[5] Khazan also recalls an American Civics teacher, Mrs. McCullough, who told her class Were preparing you for the day when you will have equal rights.[1], He was also influenced by Martin Luther King Jr. Menu. Ezell A. Blair Jr. was one of the four African American college students who initiated the sit-in protest at Woolworths lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, on February 1, 1960. [3][8] Today Khazan is an oral historian, oracle, Mass-Star Story teller and lecturer. Part of the original counter is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Blair, Richmond, McCain and McNeil planned their protest carefully, and enlisted the help of a local white businessman, Ralph Johns, to put their plan into action. He married the former Lorraine France George of New Bedford. He worked as a janitor and battled many demons, sad that he couldnt improve the world more than he had. Khazan also recalls an American Civics teacher, Mrs. McCullough, who told her class Were preparing you for the day when you will have equal rights., He was also influenced by Martin Luther King Jr. He lives in New York. In response to the success of the sit-in movement, dining facilities across the South were being integrated by the summer of 1960. The Greensboro Four, as they became known, had also been spurred to action by the brutal murder in 1955 of a young Black boy, Emmett Till, who had allegedly whistled at a white woman in a Mississippi store. It was a small victoryand one that would build. The Greensboro sit-in wasnt a random act of rebellion, but the result of months of planning. 0 54. He was captivated as King addressed the audience in attendance. The sit-ins not only attracted new protesters, they also drew counter-protesters who showed up to harass, insult and assault them. Greensboro Sit-In: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. They were influenced by the nonviolent protest techniques of Mahatma Gandhi. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. Police arrested 41 students for trespassing at a Raleigh Woolworth. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Multiple lunch counter sit-ins had taken place in the Midwest, East Coast and South in the 1940s and 1950s, but these demonstrations didnt garner national attention. On February 1, 1960, Blair, along with McNeil, Franklin and Richmond, took the bold step of violating the Greensboro Woolworth's segregation policy. According to History.com, they sat down and refused to leave, after having been denied service because of their race. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. was born on October 18, 1941 and is 81 years old now. Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. in sociology from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University in 1963. In 2002, North Carolina A&T commissioned a statue to be sculpted honoring Khazan, along with the three other members of the A&T four: Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond. SNCC was pivotal in pushing the Rev. Joseph Alfred McNeil (born March 25, 1942) is a retired major general in the United States Air Force who is best known for being a member of the Greensboro Four; a group of African American college students who, on February 1, 1960, sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina challenging the store's Ezell Blair is a member of famous Activist list. Martin Luther King Jr. to join them in integrating the cafeteria at Richs Department Store in Atlanta in 1960, Guzmn says. Jibreel Khazan (born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr.; October 18, 1941) is a civil rights activist who is best known as a member of the Greensboro Four, a group of African American college students who, on February 1, 1960, sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina challenging the store's policy of denying service to non-white customers. By Birth Year | By Birth Month | By Death Year | By Death Month | Random, Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright. Four years later, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 would mandate all businesses to desegregate. He changed his name to Jibreel Khazan and became involved in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and other civil rights organizations. On February 1, 1960, Blair, along with McNeil, Franklin and Richmond, took the bold step of violating the Greensboro Woolworth's segregation policy. By the end of March 1960, the movement had spread to 55 cities in 13 states. All four were students from North. He was 49 years old when he died in 1990 and received a posthumous honorary doctorate degree from At&T State University. Hudgens had participated in the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation against racial segregation on interstate buses. It took months, but on July 25, 1960, the Greensboro Woolworth lunch. His name is now Jibreel Khazan. The university. Today In HistoryRobert C. Maynard bought the Oakland Tribune on this date April 30, 1983. Police arrived on the scene but were unable to take action due to the lack of provocation.
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