[4] It was said that when he experienced unjust treatment based on color, he "stood up. As its members faced increased violence, however, SNCC became more militant, and by the late 1960s it was advocating the Black Power philosophy of Stokely Carmichael (SNCCs chairman from 1966-67) and his successor, H. Rap Brown. They told him to do what he must and to carry himself with dignity and grace. As the week unfolded, dozens of young people, including students from the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, flocked to lunch counters and asked to be served. 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. We even had people who saw the sit-ins that were taking place at the lunch counter drive from other states to come down here, Swaine says. They waited. The reaction was ugly in the short-term, but in the long-term the protests spread and made real change. On February 1, 1960, four college students - Ezell Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil - sat read more. July 1, 2020. Nadra Nittle is a veteran journalist who is currently the education reporter for The 19th. Blair was president of the junior class, the student government association, the campus NAACP and the Greensboro Congress of Racial Equality. Franklin McCain graduated from A&T with a degree in chemistry and biology. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, "Photo of Jibreel Khazan Receiving Award (Ezell Blair, Jr.)" (1961). Blair was president of the junior class, the student government association, the campus NAACP and the Greensboro Congress of Racial Equality. 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. He lives in New York. He served on university boards and received an honorary doctorate, according to the Civil Rights Digital Library. The Greensboro Four were four young Black men who staged the first sit-in at Greensboro: Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil. As of 2018 Ezell Blair is 76 years years old. 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). Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. Some content (or its descriptions) found on this site may be harmful and difficult to view. It's honored with a Google Doodle. Click here to sign up for email and text alerts. He married the former Lorraine France George of New Bedford. It may be easy to think that the sit-ins were about eating next to white people or about a hotdog and a coke, but, of course, it was more complex than that, Guzmn says. The sit-in demonstrations were just the beginning of Khazan's community involvement. Khazan stated that he had seen a documentary on Mohandas Gandhi's use of "passive insistence" that had inspired him to act. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. He continued his education at Massachusetts University and later at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied voice. 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. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. Death Fact Check Ezell is alive and kicking and is currently 81 years old. McCain was one of four N.C. A&T students who led sit-ins at the Woolworth lunch counter in downtown Greensboro in 1960. He had to move to Massachusetts because the publicity made it. Ezell was born on October 18, 1941 in Greensboro, North Carolina.. Ezell is one of the famous and trending celeb who is popular for being a Activist. 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. He had been a high school track star and was born in Greensboro. They were influenced by the nonviolent protest techniques practiced by Mohandas Gandhi, as well as the Freedom Rides organized by the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE) in 1947, in which interracial activists rode across the South in buses to test a recent Supreme Court decision banning segregation in interstate bus travel. Martin Luther King Jr. to join them in integrating the cafeteria at Richs Department Store in Atlanta in 1960, Guzmn says. The white waiter refused and suggested they order a take-out meal from the "stand-up" counter. African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project, Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Education - Historically Black Colleges (HBCU), Foundation, Organization, and Corporate Supporters. In 1958, Khazan heard King speak at the local Bennett College. His name is now Jibreel Khazan. In 1963, Khazan graduated from A&T College with a Bachelor's degree in sociology and Social Studies. The Belles resolved to serve as look-outs when the four men took their seats at the lunch counter on the first day. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. (1941- ), referred to as Izell Blair inWho Speaks for the Negro?, is an American civil rights activist. 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. The Greensboro Four stayed put until the store closed, then returned the next day with more students from local colleges. 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, the four men each have residence halls named for them on the university campus. Menu. No one would serve them. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Google says they were also influenced by the techniques of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. All four were students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College. READ MORE: Civil Rights Movement: A Timeline. Another critical part of the protest was looping in the media. The four North Carolina A & T students are (L-R): David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr., and Joseph McNeil. He worked as a janitor and battled many demons, sad that he couldnt improve the world more than he had. It took months, but on July 25, 1960, the Greensboro Woolworth lunch counter was finally integrated. All four were students from North. About a dozen Bennett Belles were also arrested at area sit-ins. As he had been labeled a "troublemaker" for his role in the Greensboro Sit-Ins, life in Greensboro became difficult for Khazan. 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. One member of the Greensboro Four, Joseph McNeil, resolved to integrate lunch counters after a 1959 trip to New York, a city where he hadnt encountered Jim Crow laws. It was said that when he experienced unjust treatment based on color, he "stood up." 20072023 Blackpast.org. He had to move to Massachusetts because the publicity made it difficult to get a job in Greensboro. He was captivated as King addressed the audience in attendance. 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. Today Khazan is an oral historian, oracle, Mass-Star Story teller and lecturer. In 1959, Khazan graduated from James B. Dudley High School, and entered the A&T College of North Carolina. He changed his name to Jibreel Khazan and became involved in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and other civil rights organizations. Khazan received his early education from Dudley High School, where his father taught. All Rights Reserved. according to the Civil Rights Digital Library. 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. 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. According to Google, hundreds of other protesters soon joined them, but the protesters faced a counter movement that included racial slurs being hurled in their direction and even were spit on and had food thrown on them. "[5], In 1959, Khazan graduated from James B. Dudley High School, and entered the A&T College of North Carolina. They have three children, one of whom graduated from A & T. Do you find this information helpful? The store manager then approached the men, asking them to leave. A Greensboro native, he graduated from Dudley High School and received a . 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. Together they have three children. 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 Woolworth's store. (No photographers were allowed into Woolworth's during this first protest; this is the only photo of all four original protesters together.). HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. Ezell Blair begins this interview by describing his participation in the Greensboro student sit-in and describes the students Ezell Blair, Stokely Carmichael, Lucy Thornton and Jean Wheeler. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, NBC News, The Atlantic, Business Insider and other outlets. 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. [5] Khazan stated that he had seen a documentary on Mohandas Gandhi's use of "passive insistence" that had inspired him to act. He was captivated as King addressed the audience in attendance. Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities 2023 |. The protests and the subsequent events were major milestones in the Civil Rights Movement. SNCC activists such as John Lewis took part in the 1961 Freedom Rides, the 1963 March on Washington, and the 1963 Freedom Summer effort. According to History.com, they also were influenced by Mohandas Gandhi and the Freedom Riders and their principles of non-violent protest. Original materials provided by the University of Kentucky and Yale University libraries and digitized with the permission of the Warren estate. Jan 27, 2020. In three days, their numbers had swelled to 300. Notes about review of interview transcripts with Carmichael, Ezell Blair, Lucy Thornton, and Jean Wheeler. The figures are depicted walking out of Woolworth's . The university. [6], The sit-in demonstrations were just the beginning of Khazan's community involvement. and received a B.S. 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 All Rights Reserved. Eventually, they prevailed, and Woolworths stopped segregating its dining area on July 25th, 1960, Google reports. The students came to be called the Greensboro Four. The four men who were denied service at a Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina, pose in front of the store on February 1, 1990. 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. Copyright: Jack Moebes/Corbis. On Feb. 1, 1960, freshmen David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and Ezell Blair Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan) sat at F.W. In 1958, Khazan heard King speak at the local Bennett College. Then, the next day, they returned to do it all over again, according to CNN. See MoreSee Less, Today In HistoryEdward Kennedy Duke Ellington, the legendary composer and bandleader, was born in Washington, DC, on April 29, 1899. Ezell Blair Jr.. Self: February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four. Jibreel Khazan (now Ezell Blair Jr.) was one of the original four who took part in the Woolworth sit-ins. TV Shows. He was a student government leader. The protests, and the subsequent events were major milestone in the Civil Rights Movement. He was a Major General in the Air Force Reserves and started diversity initiatives that changed the Air Force forever. 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. 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. Hudgens had participated in the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation against racial segregation on interstate buses. 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. Lunch counter sit-ins then moved beyond Greensboro to North Carolina cities such as Charlotte, Durham and Winston-Salem. Khazan works with developmentally disabled people for the CETA program in New Bedford, Mass. 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. By the spring of 1960 the sit-in movement spread to 54 cities in nine states in the South. Google 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. But the acts of intimidation didnt stop the movement from building. A Greensboro native, born in the city on October 18, 1941, Blair graduated from Dudley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. [9] In 2010, Khazan was the recipient of the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal from the Smithsonian Institution. Police arrested 41 students for trespassing at a Raleigh Woolworth. The sit-ins establish a crucial kind of leadership and organizing of young people, says Jeanne Theoharis, a Brooklyn College political science professor. Robert C. Maynard, the first African American editor and owner of a major daily newspaper in the United States, was known as a trailblazing journalist who led efforts to desegregate newsrooms and educ Duke Ellington, byname of Edward Kennedy Ellington, (born April 29, 1899, Washington, D.C., U.S.died May 24, 1974, New York, N.Y.), American pianist who was the greatest jazz composer and bandleade Frances role in the Trans Atlantic Slave, African Chiefs role in the Trans Atlantic, sit-in protest at Woolworths lunch counter, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Neighborhood children greet Ms. Gibson upon her return to Harlem after winning Wimbledon in 1957. They were asked to leave. [12], "Civil Rights Greensboro: Jibreel Khazan", University of North Carolina at Greensboro, "Jibreel Khazan (Formerly Ezell Blair Jr.)", "Oral History Interview with Jibreel Khazan by William Chafe:: Civil Rights Greensboro", "Ezell Blair, Stokely Carmichael, Lucy Thornton and Jean Wheeler | Who Speaks for the Negro? BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. As he had been labeled a "troublemaker" for his role in the Greensboro Sit-Ins, life in Greensboro became difficult for Khazan. They also took inspiration from civil rights causes of years earlier, including the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till and the Montgomery bus boycott. After the Greensboro sit-ins, Blair became a prominent civil rights activist and organizer. Their names were Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil. 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 students had received guidance from mentor activists and collaborated with students from Greensboro's all-women's Bennett College. 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. According to History.com, they sat down and refused to leave, after having been denied service because of their race. He majored in business administration and accounting and became a counselor-coordinator for the CETA program in Greensboro. 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. by mcgorry. On February 1, 1960, Blair, along with McNeil, Franklin and Richmond, took the bold step of violating the Greensboro Woolworth's segregation policy. At that speech, King called for an escalation of nonviolent protests to end segregated accommodation. Digital archive created and designed by the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities at Vanderbilt University. WATCH: The Civil Rights Movement on HISTORY Vault. They also did not give up their seats when a police officer arrived and menacingly slapped his nightstick against his hand directly behind them. By the spring of 1960 the sit-in movement spread to 54 cities in nine states in the South. [10] On October 12, 2021, Khazan was honored with the renaming of a city park in the west end of New Bedford, MA. The Greensboro Four were four young Black men who staged the first sit-in at Greensboro: Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. 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. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. 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. 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. But they did not move. ", 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. It was a small victoryand one that would build. 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 By February 5, some 300 students had joined the protest at Woolworths, paralyzing the lunch counter and other local businesses. Four Black Woolworths employeesGeneva Tisdale, Susie Morrison, Anetha Jones and Charles Bestwere the first to be served. This monument provides a larger-than-life portrayal of Jibreel Khazan (then known as Ezell Blair Jr.), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and David Richmond, four NC A&T students who became known as the "Greensboro Four" for their sit-in at Woolworth's department store in 1960. 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. They refused to leave when denied service and stayed until the store closed. SNCC also pushed King to take a more forceful stance against the war in Vietnam in 1967 and popularized the slogan Black Power! in 1966.. The Greensboro Fours efforts inspired a sit-in movement that eventually spread to 55 cities in 13 states. Counters in other cities did the same in subsequent months. 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. They were students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College. Not only were lunch counters across the country integrated one by one, a student movement was galvanized. 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. Get the latest news, sports and weather delivered straight to your inbox. 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. 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. 2023, Charter Communications, all rights reserved. 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. 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. 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. They were taking place in a lot of places before Greensboro., READ MORE: Follow the Freedom Riders' Journey Against Segregation. In response to the success of the sit-in movement, dining facilities across the South were being integrated by the summer of 1960. He continued his education at Massachusetts University and later at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied voice.[7]. Sit-in demonstrations by Black college students grew at the Woolworth's in Greensboro and other local stores, February 6, 1960. [3] In 1963, Khazan graduated from A&T College with a Bachelor's degree in sociology and Social Studies. Denied service, the four young men refused to give up their seats. SNCC was pivotal in pushing the Rev. 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. Read more, Greensboro Voices: Voicing Observations in Civil Rights and Equality struggles, Greensboro Public Library (Greensboro, N.C.), Oral history interview with Ezell and Corene Blair, Records that have the exact phrase Montgomery Bus Boycott, Records with the word integration that also contain the words Albany and/or Augusta, Records with the name King but not the name Martin, Records containing the phrase Freedom Rides and the name Carter, Records containing the words Selma and Lewis or Selma and Williams, Use quotation marks to search as a phrase, Use "+" before a term to make it required (Otherwise results matching only some of your terms may be included), Use "-" before a word or phrase to exclude, Use "OR", "AND", and "NOT" (must be capitalized) to create complex boolean logic, You can use parentheses in your complex expressions, Truncation and wildcards are not supported. At the end of July, when many local college students were on summer vacation, the Greensboro Woolworths quietly integrated its lunch counter. 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. 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. [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. In 1991, Khazan received an honorary doctorate of humanities degree from North Carolina A&T State University.
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