A&T Four Monument
PLAY VIDEOOn the campus of North Carolina A & T University, there is a monument, called the February One Monument, which consists of four statues dedicated to the four individuals whom started the sit-in movement in North Carolina. The sit-in was not only a sit-in, but the birth of a serious movement which gained national recognition. The four students that sat down in the “whites only” section of Woolsworth lunch counter on 134 Elm Street on February 1st 1960 were Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, David Richmond, and Ezell Blair. They were four freshmen students from A & T, and they started the sit-in movement that very day. Soon after their sit-in hundreds and then thousands of youth in Greensboro, other colleges and states outside North Carolina in America joined in the efforts to achieve desegregation at Woolsworth and in the rest of the southern United States, which they accomplished.
International Civil Rights Center & Museum
PLAY VIDEOGreensboro is very proud to be the birthplace of this sit-in movement, and the ICRCM (International civil Rights Center & Museum) does a superb job reminding the young and old in Greensboro and others around the country and the world why uniting together can bring significant change for the better. The museum, located inside the actual Woolsworth store where the famous sit-in took place in Greensboro, keeps educating the public on the Civil Rights movement and the importance of uniting for a just cause. The museum does this by using photographs, videos, artifacts, and more to inform people about the Greensboro sit-ins of 1960, including the one at Woolsworth, as well as introducing a variety of artists and athletes who broke racial barriers. The museum relates to the history of Greensboro significantly by being an interactive testament to a time when Greenboro was facing significant racial discrimination yet unprecedented social change, and it serves as a beacon of hope to look to when trying to prevent racially charged conflicts from happening in Greensboro today.
Carolina Theatre
PLAY VIDEOThe Carolina Theatre opened in 1927 and was the largest theater in the Carolinas at the time. It sat around 2,200 people. The theater was the first building in North Carolina to have air conditioning, and the first motion picture theater in NC with a sound system, which was installed in 1928. However, despite these cutting-edge advances, the theater remained segregated, with African American audiences sitting in the balcony, until 1963.
Democracy Greensboro
Democracy Greensboro is an activist group that specifically deals with Greensboro City Council, which encourages the political bodies of the city to be more transparent and consistent with policy making. One instance of their activism in Greensboro was in the unlawful arrest and trial of Jose Charles, a 15 year old boy who police wrongfully detained during the Fun Fourth celebration downtown. After being jumped by a group of boys, the police arrested and charged Jose with multiple felonies although he was the victim. Although Jose unfortunately was forced to accept a plea deal to avoid possible incarceration, Democracy Greensboro was one of the groups supporting Jose and his family in and out of court. The group consists of around 30 to 40 members, one of which is a professor at UNCG. They often meet at Faith community church, which displays countless photos of social and political activism, the civil rights movements, and some of our nation's most famous activist along the corridors. We also hope to interview the pastor of Faith Community, who also identifies as a social activist.
Interactive Resource Center
The IRC is a community center and day center for homeless people located on 407 E. Washington street. They provide everything from fundamental services such as showers, laundry, or a mailing address for example, to medical and mental health care, case management and employment services. They meet their guests needs where they are, gather the resources they need to gain shelter and help them create a new path forward. “The IRC is on a mission to end homelessness. Every step of the way, we are driven by these essential beliefs and values” The homeless union of greensboro meets at the IRC once a week. It was started by homeless and formerly homeless people in Greensboro attempting to fight anti-homeless legislation in Greensboro’s city council such as “anti-panhandling ordinances” which the homeless union asserts are unconstitutional. They and many of us, would rather see our homeless neighbors in clean warm environments and a solution to homelessness in the city being built up instead of tearing down the livelihood of some of our most vulnerable members of the community. Lastly, Food Not Bombs meets at the IRC from november to march to provide free meals to the public. They get donations from grocery stores which otherwise would have been thrown away Their belief is that food is a right, not a privilege, and using the food that would have been thrown away illustrates the problems of relying on a purely market-based model to distribute resources within our communities.
Action Greensboro
The purpose of Action Greensboro is to “enhance the quality of life for people living in the city” Pushes to economic development within the city of Greensboro, in order to bring to life the “improvements the residents wanted to see” This also pushes for students to continue education after high school
