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. He attended law school at Howard University for almost a year before a variety of maladies forced him out. Greensboro Sit-In - Facts, Date & Definition - History Franklin McCain - Wikipedia The white waiter refused and suggested they order a take-out meal from the "stand-up" counter. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. - Facts, Bio, Favorites, Info, Family 2021 Woolworth's whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro to protest segregation. 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. See MoreSee Less, Neighborhood children greet Ms. Gibson upon her return to Harlem after winning Wimbledon in 1957 On February 1, 1960, David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. (Jibreel Khazan), and Joe McNeil, four African American students from North Carolina A&T State University, staged a sit-in in Greensboro at Woolworth, a popular retail store that was known for refusing to serve African Americans at its lunch counter. CNN.com describes what the students went through when they staged the Greensboro sit-in. Joseph McNeil earned a degree in engineering physics in 1963 and joined the U.S. Air Force, where he became a captain. Blair was president of the junior class, the student government association, the campus NAACP and the Greensboro Congress of Racial Equality. He never strayed very far from the example of his parents, who were active in the civil rights movement, or the lessons of the people he had known as a child growing up in the south. Jan 27, 2020. The Greensboro Four stayed put until the store closed, then returned the next day with more students from local colleges. Ezell Blair Jr. was the son of a teacher who received his B.S. In 1991, Khazan received an honorary doctorate of humanities degree from North Carolina A&T State University. At the time of the protest, he was a student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he was studying engineering. 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. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. In addition, the four men each have residence halls named for them on the university campus. He also has worked with the AFL/CIO Trade Council in Boston, the Opportunities Industrialization Center, and at the Rodman Job Corps Center. Some of the first sit-ins during the civil rights movementwere organized by history teacher Clara Luper and the NAACP Youth Council in Oklahoma City in1958. The protests and the subsequent events were major milestones in the Civil Rights Movement. 20072023 Blackpast.org. 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. Khazan is married to the former Lorraine France George of New Bedford. Updated: January 25, 2022 | Original: February 4, 2010. All Rights Reserved. The sit-in movement soon spread to college towns throughout the South. McCain's death left Ezell Blair (now Jibreel Khazan) and Joseph McNeil as the two surviving members of the Greensboro Four. Ezell Blair Jr. 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 . The Greensboro sit-in was a major moment in the American civil rights movement when young African-American students staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworths lunch counter in North Carolina. Its use of nonviolence inspired the Freedom Riders and others to take up the cause of integration in the South, furthering the cause of equal rights in the United States. Four Black Woolworths employeesGeneva Tisdale, Susie Morrison, Anetha Jones and Charles Bestwere the first to be served. Click here to sign up for email and text alerts. Facts to Know About the Greensboro Four and Sit-In Movement - Spectrum News Word quickly spread about the Greensboro sit-in, and both North Carolina A&T and Bennett College students took part in the sit-in the next day. Upon his return to North Carolina, the Greensboro Trailways Bus Terminal Cafe denied him service at its lunch counter, making him determined to fight segregation. 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. He served on university boards and received an honorary doctorate, according to the Civil Rights Digital Library. by mcgorry. King's words had made a huge impact with Khazan, so much so that he later remarked that "he could feel his heart palpitating" and that the words of King "brought tears to his eyes. 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. Heavy television coverage of the Greensboro sit-ins sparked a sit-in movement that quickly spread to college towns throughout the South and into the North, as young Black and white people joined in various forms of peaceful protest against segregation in libraries, beaches, hotels and other establishments. Notes about review of interview transcripts with Carmichael, Ezell Blair, Lucy Thornton, and Jean Wheeler. As he had been labeled a "troublemaker" for his role in the Greensboro Sit-Ins, life in Greensboro became difficult for Khazan. A look at one of the defining social movements in U.S. history, told through the personal stories of men, women and children who lived through it. His father was a member of the NAACP and very vocal on the subject of racial injustices and "things naturally rubbed off on me", described Khazan in a 1974 interview. He was 49 years old when he died in 1990 and received a posthumous honorary doctorate degree from At&T State University. These materials may be graphic or reflect biases. [10] On October 12, 2021, Khazan was honored with the renaming of a city park in the west end of New Bedford, MA. His 1964 interview describes the Greensboro sit-ins in Chapter 5 of Who Speaks for the Negro? They also took inspiration from civil rights causes of years earlier, including the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till and the Montgomery bus boycott. 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. This is the real beginnings of TV media; people can see the sit-in and imagine how they would do it themselves, said Theoharis, author of The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks. By that time, Johns had already alerted the local media, who had arrived in full force to cover the events on television. Greensboro sit-in, act of nonviolent protest against a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, that began on February 1, 1960. The Greensboro Sit-In was a critical turning point in Black history and American history, bringing the fight for civil rights to the national stage. The Greensboro sit-in. He was elected president of the junior class, and would later become president of the school's student government association, the campus NAACP and the Greensboro Congress for Racial Equality. Ezell Blair Jr.. Self: February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four. 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. At the time of the protest, he was a student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he was studying engineering. 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. 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. Sit-in demonstrations by Black college students grew at the Woolworth's in Greensboro and other local stores, February 6, 1960. No one would serve them. ", North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, "FebruaryOne: The Story of the Greensboro Four", "50 years later, Greensboro Four get Smithsonian award for civil rights actions", "New Bedford Must Lift Up Celebration of Dr. Jibreel Khazan With a Statue", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ezell_Blair_Jr.&oldid=1143803857, This page was last edited on 10 March 2023, at 00:30. Police arrested 41 students for trespassing at a Raleigh Woolworth. [5] His 1964 interview describes the Greensboro sit-ins in Chapter 5 of Who Speaks for the Negro? He had to move to Massachusetts because the publicity made it difficult to get a job in Greensboro. A Greensboro native, he graduated from Dudley High School and received a . They were asked to leave. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. 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.