Tuesday, February 01, 2005
Greensboro's Proudest Moment
I moved to New York from Greensboro, NC in October, having lived there for two years. Greensboro is an interesting town with vibrant institutions, and one of those is NC A&T State University. 45 years ago today, 4 A&T freshmen went down to the local Woolworth lunch counter and demanded service. While they succeeded in integrating Greensboro's retailers, their greater significance is in helping spark the wider civil rights movement. This is one of Greensboro's proudest moments (but also one of its shames for how the students were treated by the community for years after the sit-in). The New York Times has an article (free registration required) on the sit-in and a documentary on PBS's Independent Lense which focuses on the 4; Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), Joseph McNeil and David Richmond. On channel 13 in New York, it airs tonight (Tues.) at 10 and again on Mon., Feb. 7 at 12:30 am (which is really Sunday night).