They mean that young people are going to be one of the major driving forces in terms of how the civil rights movement is going to unfold., Listen to HISTORY This Week Podcast: Sitting in For Civil Rights. in sociology in 1963. Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair Jr.), one of the Greensboro Four He continued his education at Massachusetts University and later at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied voice.[7]. Greensboro Sit-In - Facts, Date & Definition - History "[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. Please ignore rumors and hoaxes. About a dozen Bennett Belles were also arrested at area sit-ins. Khazan stated that he had seen a documentary on Mohandas Gandhi's use of "passive insistence" that had inspired him to act. According to PBS.org, the police were called but were unable to take action against the four students due to lack of provocation. Woolworths closed early that day. It was during his freshman year that Khazan and his roommate, Joseph McNeil; along with two other associates, Franklin McCain and David Richmond, devised a plan to protest against the policies of the segregated lunch counter at the downtown Greensboro F. W. Woolworth's store. The four North Carolina A & T students are (L-R): David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr., and Joseph McNeil. McNeil worked in the university library with a fellow activist, Eula Hudgens, who encouraged him to protest. They had a strong Black community in Greensboro that was steeped in the struggle and willing to support young people by way of moral and financial support, says Prairie View A&M University History Professor Will Guzmn. He worked as a janitor and battled many demons, sad that he couldnt improve the world more than he had. It was a small victoryand one that would build. By Birth Year | By Birth Month | By Death Year | By Death Month | Random, Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright. Greensboro sit-in | History, Summary, Impact, & Facts 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. 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. 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. David Richmond, the fourth member and McCain's freshman college roommate, died in 1990. 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. But the students did not budge. It's honored with a Google Doodle. Another critical part of the protest was looping in the media. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! They waited. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, NBC News, The Atlantic, Business Insider and other outlets. 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Led by four North Carolina A&T Students - Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Jibreel Khazan (then Ezell Blair, Jr.) and David Richmond, the nonviolent protests lasted over five months. The Greensboro sit-in was a civil rights protest that started in 1960, when young African American students staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworths lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and refused to leave after being denied service. In addition to desegregating dining establishments, the sit-ins led to the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Raleigh. [10] On October 12, 2021, Khazan was honored with the renaming of a city park in the west end of New Bedford, MA. On February 1, 1960, Ezell Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeillater dubbed the Greensboro Fourbegan a sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter in. 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. On February 1, 1960, four college students - Ezell Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil - sat read more. 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. Denied service, the four young men refused to give up their seats. Jibreel Khazan (previously Ezell Blair, Jr). [3] 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. The sit-in movement soon spread to college towns throughout the South. They have three children, one of whom graduated from A & T. Do you find this information helpful? Then, the next day, they returned to do it all over again, according to CNN. Touring history with Avett Brothers' bassist Bob Crawford. 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 Their names were Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil. By the spring of 1960 the sit-in movement spread to 54 cities in nine states in the South. 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. 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. 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Google says they were also influenced by the techniques of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Not only were lunch counters across the country integrated one by one, a student movement was galvanized. Greensboro Four | NCpedia The four students were inspired by the nonviolent teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., and they believed that peaceful direct action was the best way to bring about change. 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 February One: The Story of the Greensboro Sit-In | C-SPAN.org Khazan is married to the former Lorraine France George of New Bedford. The Greensboro sit-in took place in Greensboro, North Carolina, and has echoes of Rosa Parks and other symbolic moments that eventually helped end segregation in the United States. Recommended Citation. The A&T Four: February 1st, 1960 His 1964 interview describes the Greensboro sit-ins in Chapter 5 of Who Speaks for the Negro? In 1991, Khazan received an honorary doctorate of humanities degree from North Carolina A&T State University. [4] It was said that when he experienced unjust treatment based on color, he "stood up. Lunch counter sit-ins then moved beyond Greensboro to North Carolina cities such as Charlotte, Durham and Winston-Salem. We provide access to these materials to preserve the historical record, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices, or behaviors found within them. Khazans courageous actions helped to bring attention to the injustices of segregation and inspired others to join the fight for civil rights. [1][2], Khazan was born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr. on October 18, 1941, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Ezell Blair Jr. net worth and salary income estimation As he had been labeled a "troublemaker" for his role in the Greensboro Sit-Ins, life in Greensboro became difficult for Khazan. The Greensboro sit-in is the subject of a Google Doodle on February 1, 2020 for the 60th anniversary of the action. The Belles resolved to serve as look-outs when the four men took their seats at the lunch counter on the first day. The year was 1960, and segregation raged throughout the country, but the students decided they had had enough. The protests and the subsequent events were major milestones in the Civil Rights Movement. and received a B.S. He later moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he changed his name to Jibreel Khazan. Joseph McNeil Facts for Kids Though many were arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace, national media coverage of the sit-ins brought increasing attention to the civil rights movement. The protests, and the subsequent events were major milestone in the Civil Rights Movement. The sit-ins not only attracted new protesters, they also drew counter-protesters who showed up to harass, insult and assault them. Frye Gaillard, The Greensboro Four: Civil Rights Pioneers (Charlotte, N.C.: Main Street Rag Publishing Co., 2001); William H. Chafe, Civilities and Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Black Struggle for Freedom (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980). He changed his name to Jibreel Khazan and became involved in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and other civil rights organizations. 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. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. 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. Its success led to a wider sit-in movement, organized primarily by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), that spread throughout the South. Greensboro sit-in, act of nonviolent protest against a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, that began on February 1, 1960. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Ezell Blair Wiki, Biography, Net Worth, Age, Family, Facts and More SNCC activists such as John Lewis took part in the 1961 Freedom Rides, the 1963 March on Washington, and the 1963 Freedom Summer effort. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. He was a Major General in the Air Force Reserves and started diversity initiatives that changed the Air Force forever. The Greensboro Four wanted their protest to get recognition, so before heading to Woolworths on February 1, they arranged for Ralph Johns, a white businessman and activist, to alert the press about their plans. Image: Original caption: 2/1/1960 - Greensboro, NC: The participants in the first lunch counter sit-in are shown on the street after leaving the Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth's by a side exit. Biographies of the A&T Four Jibreel Khazan Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair, Jr.) was born in Greensboro, North Carolina on October 18, 1941. By the end of March 1960, the movement had spread to 55 cities in 13 states. 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. To capitalize on the momentum of the sit-in movement, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded in Raleigh, North Carolina, in April 1960. Jibreel Khazan/Ezell Blair, Jr. (1941- ) - BlackPast.org Photo of Jibreel Khazan Receiving Award (Ezell Blair, Jr.) According to History.com, they also were influenced by Mohandas Gandhi and the Freedom Riders and their principles of non-violent protest. We strive for accuracy and fairness. 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. But the acts of intimidation didnt stop the movement from building. Today, he is remembered as a hero of the Civil Rights Movement and a symbol of the power of nonviolent resistance to bring about change. After graduating from A&T in 1963, Blair encountered difficulties finding a job in his native Greensboro. Hudgens had participated in the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation against racial segregation on interstate buses. Ezell Blair, Jr. (later Jibreel Khazan), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond organized the sit-in. Over the next few years, SNCC served as one of the leading forces in the civil rights movement, organizing Freedom Rides through the South in 1961 and the historic March on Washington in 1963, at which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his seminal I Have a Dream speech. (No photographers were allowed into Woolworth's during this first protest; this is the only photo of all four original protesters together.). A Greensboro native, born in the city on October 18, 1941, Blair graduated from Dudley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. GREENSBORO Civil rights leader Franklin McCain has died. 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. Greensboro Sit-In: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. 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 BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. In 1958, Khazan heard King speak at the local Bennett College. 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. On February 1, 1960, Blair, along with McNeil, Franklin and Richmond, took the bold step of violating the Greensboro Woolworth's segregation policy. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Ezell Blair Jr. - IMDb But they did not move. It is reported that as a nine-year-old he boasted to friends that he would one day drink from the white peoples fountains and eat at their lunch counters. Blair was the most uncertain of the four who decided to stage the Woolworth protest, and recalls calling his parents to ask their advice. 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. It was during his freshman year that Khazan and his roommate, Joseph McNeil; along with two other associates, Franklin McCain and David Richmond, devised a plan to protest against the policies of the segregated lunch counter at the downtown Greensboro F. W. Woolworth's store. July 1, 2020. In 1965, he moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he worked as a teacher and counselor for the developmentally challenged. His name is now Jibreel Khazan. Woolworth. His life was threatened, so he moved to a mountain community, according to Carolina Theatre. The Greensboro Four, as they came to be known, acted to challenge the lunch counters refusal to serve African Americans. It took months, but on July 25, 1960, the Greensboro Woolworth lunch counter was finally integrated. Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Original materials provided by the University of Kentucky and Yale University libraries and digitized with the permission of the Warren estate. 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. At that speech, King called for an escalation of nonviolent protests to end segregated accommodation. Updated: January 25, 2022 | Original: February 4, 2010. His breaking point was when he was not served a hot dog at the Greensboro bus terminal, according to Carolina Theatre. [3][8] Today Khazan is an oral historian, oracle, Mass-Star Story teller and lecturer. The protests played a definitive role in the Civil Rights movement because they sparked additional protests, eventually making the movement too large to ignore, Google says. Counters in other cities did the same in subsequent months. Martin Luther King Jr. to join them in integrating the cafeteria at Richs Department Store in Atlanta in 1960, Guzmn says. Four years later, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 would mandate all businesses to desegregate. 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. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. is a well known Activist. 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. All four were students from North. In three days, their numbers had swelled to 300. They refused. [6], The sit-in demonstrations were just the beginning of Khazan's community involvement. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. - Facts, Bio, Favorites, Info, Family 2021 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. Today Khazan is an oral historian, oracle, Mass-Star Story teller and lecturer. North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, "Photo of Jibreel Khazan Receiving Award (Ezell Blair, Jr.)" (1961). Greensboro Four Biography | Infoplease 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&T Four is more than a monument, it's a moment that - Andscape He attended law school at Howard University for almost a year before a variety of maladies forced him out. A Greensboro native, he graduated from Dudley High School and received a . The white waiter refused and suggested they order a take-out meal from the "stand-up" counter. In some cases, they may conflict with strongly held cultural values, beliefs or restrictions. In 1963, Khazan graduated from A&T College with a Bachelor's degree in sociology and Social Studies. Ezell A. Blair Jr / SamePassage Movies. 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. 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. One of the original Greensboro Four who took part in the Woolworth sit-ins. McCain's death left Ezell Blair (now Jibreel Khazan) and Joseph McNeil as the two surviving members of the Greensboro Four. Ezell Blair Jr. - Wikipedia 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. They refused to leave when denied service and stayed until the store closed. 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. 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. Khazan works with developmentally disabled people for the CETA program in New Bedford, Mass. 0. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. Death Fact Check Ezell is alive and kicking and is currently 81 years old. CNN.com describes what the students went through when they staged the Greensboro sit-in. The figures are depicted walking out of Woolworth's . The former Woolworth's in Greensboro now houses the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, which features a restored version of the lunch counter where the Greensboro Four sat. No one would serve them. 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