Photo - of - by staff | February 1, 2021
William & Mary’s annual Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration will focus on not only the renowned civil rights leader, but present-day movements happening in the local area and across the country.
“Honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: The Power of Protest, Marches and College Students,” sponsored by William & Mary’s Center for Student Diversity, will take place virtually through Zoom at 7 p.m. on Feb. 3.
The event will feature a panel of student, faculty and alumni speakers moderated by CSD Associate Director Shené V. Owens and Alton Coston III 23.
“While planning this program, I wanted to tap into how Dr. King s movement was led by college students,” said Owens. “William & Mary students are adding their voices to present days movements, and that led me to reflect back on the efforts of SNCC (Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee) and the Freedom Riders.”
HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) Real education means to inspire people to live more abundantly, to learn to begin with life as they find it and make it better. That is just one of the quotes from Carter G. Woodson, who is credited with creating the event that would evolve into the Black History Month we celebrate today.
Black History Month was designated in 1976 and has been recognized by every U.S. president in the month of February since. Woodson was a historian, whom with minister Jesse E. Moorland, founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH). It s known today as the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). But the mission remains the same: to research, recognize and promote the achievements of Black Americans and those of African descent.
Editor s Pick Bettmann / Getty Images
ON 1 FEBRUARY 1960, Ezell Blair Jr, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and David Richmond, African-American students at the Agricultural and Technical State University of North Carolina, sat down at the whites-only lunch counter at a Woolworth’s store in Greensboro. “The white patrons eyed them warily, and the white waitresses ignored their studiously polite requests for service,”
Time later reported. The manager called the police and closed the store. The “Greensboro Four” became the focus of national attention, inspiring similar sit-ins in 78 towns and cities over the next five months, including this one, organised on 2 April by the New York Youth Committee for Integration.
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Photo: The February One monument on North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University’s campus. Credit Cewatkin, Wikimedia Commons
The following article was originally published in 2010 to mark the 50th anniversary of the heroic sit-ins
On Feb. 1, 1960, Ezell A. Blair Jr., David Leinhail Richmond, Joseph Alfred McNeil, and Franklin Eugene McCain entered their local Woolworths store in Greensboro, N.C. The four students at North Carolina Agricultural and Mechanical University purchased some school supplies, then sat down at the lunch counter to order coffee.
They stayed until closing time, and yet were never served. Why? Because the four students were Black, and the lunch counter was segregated.
Shaping Their World through Activism
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Don t take away my right to protest, says Martin Lynn, a grad student at RIC studying math and computer science. Like many activists across the country, he wants people to understand the importance of fighting for what you believe in.
The 1960s are often thought of as the heyday of student activism in this country, thanks to groups like Students for a Democratic Society and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, who actively protested against the injustices of their time.
But students today, in large numbers, are getting active once again, both around the country and here at Rhode Island College. They are advocating for the rights of those who do not have a voice. The groups are different today, but the issues have remained almost exactly the same: racial justice, women s rights, LGBTQ+ rights and environmental justice.