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The Greenville 8 stand in front of the segregated Greenville County, S.C., public library in 1960. Front row, from left: Joan Mattison Daniel, Elaine Means, Margaree Seawright Crosby, Dorris Wright and Hattie Smith Wright. Second row: Jesse Jackson, Benjamin Downs. Back row: Willie Joe Wright (with glasses), attorney Willie T. Smith Jr. (wearing hat), and attorney Donald Sampson (with mustache).
Fifty years ago, when the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, then a high school freshman, decided to use the “whites-only” public library in Greenville, S.C., he wasn’t thinking about making history, he said.
He just knew it wasn’t fair that the “black” public library didn’t have the book he needed for a school report, and a request to the “white” library was a six-day wait.
“I didn’t have six days. I had to go back to school, and I cried,” said the Rainbow/ PUSH founder, whose annual national civil rights conference kicks off here Saturday.
So Jackson walked into the library with seven other black high school students, grabbed a book, sat down and read, knowing it would be only a matter of time.
It reportedly took 15 minutes. The Greenville 8 were arrested, handcuffed, removed from the library and jailed on July 17, 1960, initiating one of the pivotal moments of the civil rights movement.
It was a critical juncture in what would become a lifetime of activism, and at this 50th anniversary, Jackson and six of his partners in crime — one has died — will reunite at the conference.
“All of us went for our own reasons. Many of us did not know each other,” Jackson recounted. “The ‘54 Brown vs. Board of Education decision had passed, and nothing had happened. That summer was a pregnant moment in time. A season of struggle had begun against legal segregation. We were pushing against the walls. On that day, we eight students went to jail fighting for our dignity.”
Arrested with him were Sterling High School students Joan Mattison Daniel, Elaine Means, Margaree Seawright, Dorris Wright, Hattie Smith Wright and Benjamin Downs, who will attend the PUSH Excel Scholarship Gala at 7 p.m. Monday at McCormick Place West. The eighth, Willie Joe Wright, is deceased.
Jackson draws upon King’s quote above about change in honoring the group, along with the Greensboro 4 — North Carolina A&T students who sat at a segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C., on Feb. 1, 1960, triggering sit-ins across the South. Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair and Joseph McNeil will be there. David Richmond is deceased.
Others being honored include Ernest Green — one of the 1957 Little Rock Nine group of black students who integrated Little Rock Central High in Arkansas.
“All of us were testing the ‘54 decision across the South, state by state, consummated with the Civil Rights Act of 1964,” said Jackson, whose conference is in its 39th year.
“What we knew as horizontal segregation is over. Today, it’s vertical segregation,” he said. “We are a free but not equal society, and that’s because of unenforced civil rights laws — unenforced fair lending laws, unenforced fair housing laws, an unenforced Community Reinvestment Act. We need an urban policy.”
The conference takes place at PUSH headquarters, 930 E. 50th St., Saturday and Sunday, and at Hyatt McCormick Place from Monday through Wednesday. The public can visit www.rainbow push.org for more information or registration.
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The Brown decision which found segregation in public schools to be unconstitutional, was handed down on May 17 , 1954.
The Supreme Court ordered desegregation to proceed with all deliberate speed” It was February 1960 and not only had the
schools not desegregated, but the ppor conditions in the African American school-s continued.
Further the authorities in Prince Edwards County Virginia had closed all the public schools black and white and used public
funds to set up private academies for white students only.
The video audio of Attorney Robert Carter: ” The problem with the all deliberate speed was that it compromised the court’s integrity. That was a corrupt decision. When you have a Constitutional right it vest immediately. And what they did with that one, was because of race. They said this over time. A racist decision meant I suppose to ease the south’s acceptance of it. As it turned out it didn’t do that.”
No it did not do that, but it led to the defiance by one woman who was fed up with the Jim Crow laws. The arrest of
Rosa Parks for refusing to give up her bus seat to a white man triggered a year long bus boycott in Montgomery Alabama.
The Boycott ended when the Supreme Court ordered desegregation of the buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Four years later, that movement led to some defiant teens Wichita, Kansas to take the initiative without the NAACP’ s support to integrate the Dockum drugstore lunch counter.
Nineteen months later, four defiant freshmen students from North Carolina A&T State University have the attention of
the entire country with their sit-in movement at the Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro’ N.C.
Their movement caught on like wildfire, sparking similar protests and support throughout the country.
The white citizens of Greensboro, NC continued their massive resistance to integration. They would come in on a daily basis, occupying all the seats at the lunch county. They would relinquish their seat only to another white individual. They also tried to intimidate the NC. A&T protesters.
The entire N.C. A&T State University campus was now behind the movement using non-violence as a tactic. The young black students would come in with their text books take their seat at the counter. With textbooks open, they would study.
The store would continued to serve their white patrons. However this became impossible as the lunch counter seats began to f i l l with the black protesting students. At this point, the lunch counter would cease its’ operation for the rest of the day.
Soon the Bennett college students, known affectionately as the Bennett Bells joined the protest.
Although the students were faced with mass resistance and intimidation by the white citizens, the students continued
their non-violent protest on a daily basis.
The African American protesters eventually found an ally in the all white female school Women College in Greensboro. The Women College students were able to attain seats from other whites. They in turn, would give their seats to a waiting A&T student.
Now it was an integrated Protest.
Join us tomorrow as we continue to explore the non-violent
protest.
For Spanish and hearing impaired versions, please go to the Febone1960.net Black History Month Calendar
FEBONE1960.NET IS EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL PROBLEMS WITH THE HEARING IMPAIRED AND SPANISH VIDEOS. TO COVER THOSE AREAS WE HAVE PLACED THE WRITTEN TEXT ON THE BLOG IN ENGLISH AND SPANISH. WE WILL WORK TO GET THE VIDEOS BACK ON TRACK AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. WE APOLOGIZE FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE.
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CLICK IMAGE TO VIEW CALENDAR
The Febone1960.net Black History Month Calendar is back again for 2010 and this year we invite you to come and take your seat at the lunch counter as we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Lunch Counter Sit-In Movement!
The Febone1960.net 2010 Black History Month Calendar traces the roots of an average
African American Family from slavery to present day.
Resembling Alex Haley’s Roots, the Calendar utilizes the Internet and video streaming to show daily video clips during the month of February.
Roots traced the genealogy of Alex Haley’s family back to Africa. This electronic calendar starts the genealogy at slavery. Viewers will learn about the participation of unsung heroes and their impact on the civil rights movement.
The Calendar is again being offered to all schools throughout the World free of charge starting on February 1, 2010. The viewers will be able to view a new clip each day. The viewers can view current day and previously posted clips.
The clips will be available in Spanish and closed captioned for the hearing impaired. We are also paying tribute to the unsung deaf African American heroes/sheroes as we reveal their contribution to the Civil Rights Movement.
This year we have the continued support of the National Education Association (”NEA”), Black Caucus.
We also have the support of several celebrities who have lent their voices to the project by narrating some of the clips. Natalie Cole, Josh Grobin, Angela Bassett, Giancarlo Esposito, Star Jones, En’Vogue, former Secretary of Labor Alexis Herman, Susan Kidd, Chris Matthews, Maureen Dowd,Tamaron Hall, Eugene Robinson Suzanne Malveaux, and Michele Martin are just few of the many celebrities who wanted to support this worthy project.
It is our desire to have the calendar viewed daily by every person within and out of the
United States. Therefore, we ask that you forward this email to all your friends and
family and have them join us each and every day starting February 1, 2010 for the five
minutes video clips.
The general public may also access the calendar free of charge.
All schoolteachers and administrators need to make sure that the video clips will not be
filtered out at their schools. Please contact your media specialist and ask that they
contact the person who is responsible for the computers including the Internet at their
schools.
The calendar will accomplish the following:
• Reveal the unsung heroes of African American History
• Encourage African Americans to study their own family history
• Encourage dialog about the rich African American heritage and its’
contribution to American Society
•
Encourage reading and the utilization on the Internet within the
African American community
•
Encourage the appreciation and value education
•
Reveal that African American History is American History.
Please take a look at the summary video and view the 2010 calendar. YOU CLICK DAY ONE (1) TO VIEW SUMMARY VIDEO.
If you would like to link this calendar to your website please contact Sam.
You can also follow us on the Febone Blog for written commentary and twitter for daily discussions.
Please spread the word to everyone on your email list, facebook and my space page as well as your twitter followers and ask that they follow the black history journey from slavery to Obama daily.
Thank you for your anticipated support of the 2010 Febone1960.net Black History Month Calendar.
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Earl Jones doesn’t hesitate to tell it like he perceives when it come to his journey in building the International Civil Rights Museum.
The former Woolsworth Five & Dime will open its doors as the International Civil Rights Museum on Monday February 1, 2010.
On Feb. 1, 1960, the dime store was the site of a sit-in by four N.C. A&T students who opposed the store’s policy of serving only white people at the lunch counter. A six-month protest ensued, triggering similar demonstrations across the South and helping to usher in the nationwide movement that ultimately ended the Jim Crow era of segregation.
Fourteen years ago, Jones a North Carolina General Assembly representative and County Commissioner Skip Alston came up with the idea to turn the closed store into a museum when word circulated that the building would be torn down and converted into a parking lot.
The two created a foundation and the fundraising began.
Initially donations coming by way of an annual banquet trickled in after a failed bond referendum. Jones himself was able to secure funds from the State for the project.
However last year an agreement was struck between the foundation and two investment groups to purcahse $10 million in tax credits linked to the project.
In addition to $10 million from the sale of tax credits, local foundations and a variety of corporations made $4 million in new pledges to help complete the project.
Tax credits are purchased by private investors who use them to reduce their state and federal taxes on profits made in other business ventures.
A Gala will preceed the ribbon cuting festivities om Monday. Julian Bond and Tom Joyner will receive awards during the banquet.
A panel discussion headed by Ed Gordon with Jesse Jackson Sr., Al sharpton and Bennet College President Julianne Malveaux will be the highlight on the A&T campus.
Yolanda Adams will headline a spiritual gospel event on Sunday leading up to the ribbon cutting on Monday.
For more information you can click on http://www.sitinmovement.org
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Posted 7 months, 1 week ago. Add a comment
Harold Martin and his wife Davida
GREENSBORO — N.C. It is said that you can never go home again. Try telling that to Harold Martin . North Carolin A&T State University welcomed back alumnus and former faculty member Harold Martin on Friday morning, as its new chancellor.
“It is a great pleasure to come home,” Martin told the crowd assembled at the UNC Board of Governors meeting held on A&T’s campus.
The board unanimously approved Martin, whom system President Erskine Bowles called a mentor, colleague and friend.
He said he could not imagine a better man to lead A&T.
“Harold Martin is a proud Aggie,” Bowles said. “He personifies Aggie pride. He is not only a graduate of A&T; he has also been a faculty member, dean and provost at A&T. He knows this institution inside and out. He is of North Carolina A&T.”
Franklin McCain, who led the chancellor search committee, said this was one of the fastest searches in UNC history, leading Bowles to joke that “we didn’t have to look far.”
Martin, chancellor of Winston-Salem State University from 2000 to 2006, was widely considered the best candidate for the job by Aggies alumni. They have been frustrated by the short tenure and abrupt resignations of the school’s last two chancellors.
Martin was passed over for the job in 1999 and did not apply when it opened again two years ago. Bowles said he asked Martin to join him at UNC general administration instead, where he was chief academic officer.
Many Aggies cried openly when Martin was officially announced as their new leader.
“It’s great to see him come back home,” former student body president Marcus Bass said. “Every year at graduation they challenge us to come back to A&T and give back to the school. There’s no better way he could do that than this.”
Many Aggies said they trusted Martin with the school’s future, citing his work at Winston-Salem State. While chancellor there, Martin saw the school’s average incoming SAT score increase nearly 70 points. The school’s enrollment doubled, and he helped create some of its most successful programs.
“His being an Aggie isn’t the most important thing,” said Kitty Harrigan, a 1978 graduate who high-fived friends as the crowd gave Martin a standing ovation. “This is a man who is qualified to lead this university into the 21st century.”
Martin said he plans to continue the academic progress of outgoing Chancellor Stanley Battle, who resigned in February citing family and personal reasons.
“I want to say publicly that I thank Chancellor Battle and his staff for the progress that was made under his leadership,” Martin said.
Battle has not spoken about his resignation since it was announced in February. But some close to the chancellor and the faculty senate said Battle’s push to make sweeping changes and raise standards caused tension.
Chancellor Battle will collect his chancellor’s salary during a six-month sabbatical after he resigns — and then take a tenured faculty position at the school.
There is much work to do at the school, which has struggled financially and academically, Martin said. He expects cooperation from the staff, he said, and thinks they will trust him to make the necessary changes.
“Being a product of the institution and knowing so many people associated with the institution, I don’t believe there will be as much anxiety about trust,” Martin said. “That, I think, is a critical part of what’s needed to communicate effectively, to engage with people.”
Martin said he has high expectations for the school but knows that realizing them won’t be easy.
“No, I don’t walk on water,” Martin said jokingly to the crowd. “And yes, I will need the help of each of you.”
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