28 Days of American History

Feb 1, 2010

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So, a lot of people get upset that black history month is in February, THE shortest month of the year. Yet and still, most black people (or at least myself) don't engage in active learning of our history in February, much less year round. With that said, I'ma do my part and drop some knowledge on y'all every day out of this month.

Lesson 1:
The Greensboro 4. I'd like to call 'em "the Cuatro Amigos" (is that disrespectful? hope I ain't just offend anyone)

ANYWHO, exactly 50 years ago today (before the iPad, before P. Diddy, and before Twitter) four African-American college students from NC A&T (shout out to my Aggies!) did a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina. Blacks were allowed to buy school supplies in the store; however, when it came to eating, they had to stand up when served (standing and eating?! it almost look like a typo don't it?). Well, the manager didn't have the students arrested, assuming they would eventually fall back, but over the course of the next few days the students returned with more and more support from fellow classmates (there were upwards of 300 students at one point).

(Pause.) Now imagine 300 hungry, black students ANYWHERE today? Did you picture pure, unadulterated ratchet-ness along the lines of:
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I did.....
....don't judge me.

The students remained non-violent even in the midst of violent reactions from Whites.

The wrap-up:
Everything pretty much came to a halt after a bomb-threat was called into the restaurant (WTDTA?). So, what began as 4 students sitting in at a local restaurant sparked a slew of passive-resistance movements in the southeastern part of the United States during the Civil Rights Movement. It's crazy to think that students like you and I were an integral part of such an major event in American History.
The End.

1 comments:

Anonymous said...

i learned about this last spring. I know I'm late.
anyway, i love how you say "imagine 300 hungry black students anywhere today..." i think it's sad to think we can't come together to do things like these nowadays. What is wrong with our generation?

 
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