In 1965, he moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he worked as a teacher and counselor for the developmentally challenged. The Greensboro sit-in. Powered by. He went on to work with the developmentally disabled people for the CETA program in New Bedford, Mass. He also has worked with the AFL/CIO Trade Council in Boston and the Opportunities Industrialization Center and at the Rodman Job Corps Center, reports February One documentary. 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. In 2010, Khazan was the recipient of the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal from the Smithsonian Institution. Get the latest news, sports and weather delivered straight to your inbox. 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). The sit-ins not only attracted new protesters, they also drew counter-protesters who showed up to harass, insult and assault them. None of it deterred the protesters. Ezell Blair Jr. - Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core They were influenced by the nonviolent protest techniques of Mahatma Gandhi. 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. Greensboro sit-in - Students | Britannica Kids | Homework Help 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. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. By the end of March 1960, the movement had spread to 55 cities in 13 states. These materials may be graphic or reflect biases. Did you know? As of 2018 Ezell Blair is 76 years years old. In 1963, Khazan graduated from A&T College with a Bachelor's degree in sociology and Social Studies. [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? After graduating from A&T in 1963, Blair encountered difficulties finding a job in his native Greensboro. [5] His 1964 interview describes the Greensboro sit-ins in Chapter 5 of Who Speaks for the Negro? We provide access to these materials to preserve the historical record, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices, or behaviors found within them. 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. In 1958, Khazan heard King speak at the local Bennett College. Updated: January 29, 2021 | Original: July 28, 2020. Ezell Blair Jr. was the son of a teacher who received his B.S. See MoreSee Less. and received a B.S. The Greensboro Fours efforts inspired a sit-in movement that eventually spread to 55 cities in 13 states. This was a forerunner to the 1961 Freedom Rides, just as the 1942 sit-in at the Jack Spratt Coffee House in Chicago was a forerunner to the Greensboro sit-in of 1960. in sociology in 1963. Khazans courageous actions helped to bring attention to the injustices of segregation and inspired others to join the fight for civil rights. He was captivated as King addressed the audience in attendance. According to History.com, they also were influenced by Mohandas Gandhi and the Freedom Riders and their principles of non-violent protest. [11], Khazan is married to the former Lorraine France George of New Bedford. As he had been labeled a "troublemaker" for his role in the Greensboro Sit-Ins, life in Greensboro became difficult for Khazan. The Belles resolved to serve as look-outs when the four men took their seats at the lunch counter on the first day. 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. Blair was president of the junior class, the student government association, the campus NAACP and the Greensboro Congress of Racial Equality. The figures are depicted walking out of Woolworth's . The reaction was ugly in the short-term, but in the long-term the protests spread and made real change. All Rights Reserved. Ezell Blair Jr. - IMDb The sit-in protest continued for several days and soon spread throughout the South, sparking a new phase of the Civil Rights Movement. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. was born on October 18, 1941 and is 81 years old now. He also has worked with the AFL/CIO Trade Council in Boston, the Opportunities Industrialization Center, and at the Rodman Job Corps Center. Then, the next day, they returned to do it all over again, according to CNN. 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. 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. 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. 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 Together they have three children. A small donation would help us keep this available to all. 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. 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. 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 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. Greensboro Sit-In: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. 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. 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. 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. Updated: January 25, 2022 | Original: February 4, 2010. 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. All four were students from North. 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. According to History.com, they sat down and refused to leave, after having been denied service because of their race. By February 5, some 300 students had joined the protest at Woolworths, paralyzing the lunch counter and other local businesses. [6], The sit-in demonstrations were just the beginning of Khazan's community involvement. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, NBC News, The Atlantic, Business Insider and other outlets. 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. They were students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College. 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. 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. On Feb. 1, 1960 four Black freshmen at North Carolina A&T State University, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, Jr., and David Richmond, took seats at the segregated lunch counter of F. W. Woolworth's in Greensboro, N.C. Four Black Woolworths employeesGeneva Tisdale, Susie Morrison, Anetha Jones and Charles Bestwere the first to be served. After nearly a week of protests, approximately 1,400 students showed up to the Greensboro Woolworth to demonstrate. In February 1960, while an 18 year-old freshman at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College (A&T), Blair and three other students began a sit-in protest at the lunch counter of a Woolworths store in Greensboro, North Carolina. They refused to leave when denied service and stayed until the store closed. Police arrived on the scene but were unable to take action due to the lack of provocation. McCain was one of four N.C. A&T students who led sit-ins at the Woolworth lunch counter in downtown Greensboro in 1960. A&T Four is more than a monument, it's a moment that - Andscape 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. Google 0. "[5], In 1959, Khazan graduated from James B. Dudley High School, and entered the A&T College of North Carolina. Ezell A. Blair Jr. was one of the four African American college students who initiated the sit-in protest at Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, on February 1, 1960. 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. "[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. It took months, but on July 25, 1960, the Greensboro Woolworth lunch counter was finally integrated. Khazan received his early education from Dudley High School, where his father taught. Notes about review of interview transcripts with Carmichael, Ezell Blair, Lucy Thornton, and Jean Wheeler. 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. Hudgens had participated in the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation against racial segregation on interstate buses. 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. At that speech, King called for an escalation of nonviolent protests to end segregated accommodation. 2023, Charter Communications, all rights reserved. Joseph McNeil earned a degree in engineering physics in 1963 and joined the U.S. Air Force, where he became a captain. Blair, Ezell Alexander, 1919-1997 - Civil Rights Digital Library - USG 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. CNN.com describes what the students went through when they staged the Greensboro sit-in. 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. Not only were lunch counters across the country integrated one by one, a student movement was galvanized. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. is a well known Activist. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Greensboro Sit-In: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know | Heavy.com In some cases, they may conflict with strongly held cultural values, beliefs or restrictions. But they did not move. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. His name is now Jibreel Khazan. While lunch counter sit-ins had taken place before, the four young men from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University drew national attention to the cause. Its success led to a wider sit-in movement, organized primarily by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), that spread throughout the South. When four Black students refused to move from a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in 1960, nation-wide student activism gained momentum. We strive for accuracy and fairness. ", 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. Greensboro Four Biography | Infoplease On February 1, 1960, four college students - Ezell Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil - sat read more. SNCC worked alongside the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to push passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and would later mount an organized resistance to the Vietnam War. 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. Woolworth. Google says they were also influenced by the techniques of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The Greensboro Four, as they came to be known, acted to challenge the lunch counters refusal to serve African Americans. Movies. Biographies of the A&T Four Jibreel Khazan Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair, Jr.) was born in Greensboro, North Carolina on October 18, 1941. A Greensboro native, born in the city on October 18, 1941, Blair graduated from Dudley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. Woolworth's whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro to protest segregation. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. As he had been labeled a "troublemaker" for his role in the Greensboro Sit-Ins, life in Greensboro became difficult for Khazan. His breaking point was when he was not served a hot dog at the Greensboro bus terminal, according to Carolina Theatre. In 1991, Khazan received an honorary doctorate of humanities degree from North Carolina A&T State University. But the acts of intimidation didnt stop the movement from building. At the time of the protest, he was a student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he was studying engineering. The sit-ins establish a crucial kind of leadership and organizing of young people, says Jeanne Theoharis, a Brooklyn College political science professor. In 1965, he moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he worked as a teacher and counselor for the developmentally challenged. He continued his education at Massachusetts University and later at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied voice. [9] In 2010, Khazan was the recipient of the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal from the Smithsonian Institution. 20072023 Blackpast.org. 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. 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. The protests and the subsequent events were major milestones in the Civil Rights Movement. 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. Lunch counter sit-ins then moved beyond Greensboro to North Carolina cities such as Charlotte, Durham and Winston-Salem. SNCC was pivotal in pushing the Rev. McCain's death left Ezell Blair (now Jibreel Khazan) and Joseph McNeil as the two surviving members of the Greensboro Four. 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. 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. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. | Who Speaks for the Negro? - Vanderbilt University 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. Copyright: Jack Moebes/Corbis. 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. [4] Shortly before his death, McCain was interviewed by his granddaughter, Taylor, who asked him to define freedom. Khazan was born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr. on October 18, 1941, in Greensboro, North Carolina. The store manager then approached the men, asking them to leave. Ezell Blair Jr. - Wikipedia The protests and the subsequent events were major milestones in the Civil Rights Movement. His life was threatened, so he moved to a mountain community, according to Carolina Theatre. A&T Four: A Closer Look | Digital Collections | North Carolina 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. 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Commemorative Landscapes of North Carolina | Greensboro Four Monument [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. Martin Luther King Jr. to join them in integrating the cafeteria at Richs Department Store in Atlanta in 1960, Guzmn says. Blair and the other three students were refused service when they sat down at Woolworths lunch counter, but they refused to leave and stayed at the counter until the store closed. He attended law school at Howard University for almost a year before a variety of maladies forced him out. (No photographers were allowed into Woolworth's during this first protest; this is the only photo of all four original protesters together.). 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. 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. The Greensboro Four stayed put until the store closed, then returned the next day with more students from local colleges. 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. Digital archive created and designed by the Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities at Vanderbilt University. He worked as a janitor and battled many demons, sad that he couldnt improve the world more than he had. 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. In 1958, Khazan heard King speak at the local Bennett College. SNCC activists such as John Lewis took part in the 1961 Freedom Rides, the 1963 March on Washington, and the 1963 Freedom Summer effort. 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. 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. He was a student government leader. 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. Ezell Blair Jr. was the son of a teacher who received his B.S. In three days, their numbers had swelled to 300. 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. In 1968, he joined the Islamic Center of New England and changed his name to Jibreel Khazan. 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. The protests, and the subsequent events were major milestone in the Civil Rights Movement. 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. 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. In response to the success of the sit-in movement, dining facilities across the South were being integrated by the summer of 1960. 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. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! 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. They also did not give up their seats when a police officer arrived and menacingly slapped his nightstick against his hand directly behind them. 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. He later moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he changed his name to Jibreel Khazan. The university. Denied service, the four young men refused to give up their seats. The students had received guidance from mentor activists and collaborated with students from Greensboro's all-women's Bennett College. The students came to be called the Greensboro Four. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Khazan is married to the former Lorraine France George of New Bedford. All Rights Reserved. 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. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. Greensboro sit-in | History, Summary, Impact, & Facts The Greensboro sit-in was a major moment in the Civil Rights Movement. They have three children, one of whom graduated from A & T. Do you find this information helpful? February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four - PBS In addition, the four men each have residence halls named for them on the university campus. Activist Ella Baker, then director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, organized the youth-centered groups first meeting. David Richmond, the fourth member and McCain's freshman college roommate, died in 1990.

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