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. 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. He also has worked with the AFL/CIO Trade Council in Boston, the Opportunities Industrialization Center, and at the Rodman Job Corps Center. Khazans courageous actions helped to bring attention to the injustices of segregation and inspired others to join the fight for civil rights. From left to right: Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair, Jr.), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeill, and David Richmond. McCain's death left Ezell Blair (now Jibreel Khazan) and Joseph McNeil as the two surviving members of the Greensboro Four. Greensboro Sit-In: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. 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. In 1965, he moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he worked as a teacher and counselor for the developmentally challenged. 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. 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. 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. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. 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. [9] In 2010, Khazan was the recipient of the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal from the Smithsonian Institution. After nearly a week of protests, approximately 1,400 students showed up to the Greensboro Woolworth to demonstrate. Ezell Blair Jr. Facts for Kids Counters in other cities did the same in subsequent months. "[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. Biographies of the A&T Four Jibreel Khazan Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair, Jr.) was born in Greensboro, North Carolina on October 18, 1941. In addition, the four men each have residence halls named for them on the university campus. They were all students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro. In 1968, he joined the Islamic Center of New England and changed his name to Jibreel Khazan. In 1959, Khazan graduated from James B. Dudley High School, and entered the A&T College of North Carolina. "[5], In 1959, Khazan graduated from James B. Dudley High School, and entered the A&T College of North Carolina. After graduating from A&T in 1963, Blair encountered difficulties finding a job in his native Greensboro. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. Some content (or its descriptions) found on this site may be harmful and difficult to view. Franklin McCain - Wikipedia The protests and the subsequent events were major milestones in the Civil Rights Movement. 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. After graduating from A&T in 1963, Blair encountered difficulties finding a job in his native Greensboro. Ezell Blair Jr. net worth and salary income estimation Together they have three children. The Greensboro Four stayed put until the store closed, then returned the next day with more students from local colleges. McNeil worked in the university library with a fellow activist, Eula Hudgens, who encouraged him to protest. At the end of July, when many local college students were on summer vacation, the Greensboro Woolworths quietly integrated its lunch counter. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. - Facts, Bio, Favorites, Info, Family 2021 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. Its success led to a wider sit-in movement, organized primarily by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), that spread throughout the South. He had to move to Massachusetts because the publicity made it difficult to get a job in Greensboro. The sit-in protest continued for several days and soon spread throughout the South, sparking a new phase of the Civil Rights Movement. No one would serve them. CNN.com describes what the students went through when they staged the Greensboro sit-in. His name is now Jibreel Khazan. February One: The Story of the Greensboro Sit-In | C-SPAN.org All Rights Reserved. Four Black Woolworths employeesGeneva Tisdale, Susie Morrison, Anetha Jones and Charles Bestwere the first to be served. Police arrived on the scene but were unable to take action due to the lack of provocation. In 1963, Khazan graduated from A&T College with a Bachelor's degree in sociology and Social Studies. Woolworth. In 1958, Khazan heard King speak at the local Bennett College. in sociology in 1963. He lives in New York. About a dozen Bennett Belles were also arrested at area sit-ins. There were also sit-ins in Philadelphia, Baltimore, St. Louis and Columbia, Missouri, says John L. Swaine, CEO of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum. David Richmond, the fourth member and McCain's freshman college roommate, died in 1990. SNCC activists such as John Lewis took part in the 1961 Freedom Rides, the 1963 March on Washington, and the 1963 Freedom Summer effort. At the time of the protest, he was a student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he was studying engineering. 20072023 Blackpast.org. 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. Ezell Blair, Jr. (later Jibreel Khazan), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond organized the sit-in. He graduated from James B. Dudley High School in 1959 and began his freshman year at A&T College having received an A&T College Alumni Association Scholarship. 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 He then went into computer sales and worked as a stockbroker and commercial banker. The A&T Four: February 1st, 1960 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. What sparked the Greensboro Four, as the students were known, to take such courageous action? Hudgens had participated in the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation against racial segregation on interstate buses. Lunch counter sit-ins then moved beyond Greensboro to North Carolina cities such as Charlotte, Durham and Winston-Salem. They were students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College. Denied service, the four young men refused to give up their seats. Download it here. 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. [1][2], Khazan was born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr. on October 18, 1941, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Recommended Citation. in sociology in 1963. 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. HISTORY.com works with a wide range of writers and editors to create accurate and informative content. On February 1, 1960, four college students - Ezell Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil - sat read more. 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. According to History.com, they also were influenced by Mohandas Gandhi and the Freedom Riders and their principles of non-violent protest. From left to right: Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair, Jr.), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeill, and David Richmond. 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. According to History.com, they sat down and refused to leave, after having been denied service because of their race. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), first sit-ins during the civil rights movement, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/the-greensboro-sit-in. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 1942 sit-in at the Jack Spratt Coffee House, Follow the Freedom Riders' Journey Against Segregation, Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, 1,400 students showed up to the Greensboro Woolworth, Police arrested 41 students for trespassing, Greensboro Woolworth lunch counter was finally integrated, integrating the cafeteria at Richs Department Store, 8 Steps That Paved the Way to the Civil Rights Act of 1964, https://www.history.com/news/greensboro-four-sit-in-civil-rights, How the Greensboro Four Sit-In Sparked a Movement. 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. On February 1, 1960, four Black college freshmen, Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. and David Richmond, sat down at a "whites-only" Woolworths lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C. and politely asked for service. [6], The sit-in demonstrations were just the beginning of Khazan's community involvement. Ezell Blair Jr. - Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core Jibreel Khazan (previously Ezell Blair, Jr). He had been a high school track star and was born in Greensboro. Eventually, they prevailed, and Woolworths stopped segregating its dining area on July 25th, 1960, Google reports. 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. 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. 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. Powered by. Original materials provided by the University of Kentucky and Yale University libraries and digitized with the permission of the Warren estate. All Rights Reserved. [5] His 1964 interview describes the Greensboro sit-ins in Chapter 5 of Who Speaks for the Negro? The white waiter refused and suggested they order a take-out meal from the "stand-up" counter. Today In HistoryRobert C. Maynard bought the Oakland Tribune on this date April 30, 1983. But they did not move. July 1, 2020. He was captivated as King addressed the audience in attendance. 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. 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. Khazan was born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr. on October 18, 1941, in Greensboro, North Carolina.

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