Day 1: Greensboro, NC

What a day!  We boarded a bus in Beaver Falls, Pa and ventured down to Greensboro, NC.  First we went to North Carolina A&T State University than to The International Civil Rights Center & Museum.  This day was full of so many emotions: excitement, anger, frustration, sadness, honored, proud & hopeful.  These are the type of emotions that I expected but my body was overwhelmed at times with how I felt.

The day centered around 4 men. Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr & David Richmond.  These men or better young men were teenage freshmen at NC A&T when they decided in 1960 to start a sit in at Woolworths 5 & dime.  Little did they know that their sit in on February 1, 1960 would change our nation and help stop segregation.  I won’t give you all the details but I encourage you to learn about their story.  Here is a link about their story  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greensboro_sit-ins

I can’t get over the courage of 18 year olds to challenge Jim Crow & the segregated south to take a stand for what they knew was right.  I have to admit that at 18 I would not have done what they did.  They knew they were taking a chance at getting beat, mocked, jailed or killed but it didn’t stop them.  I praise them for their peaceful protest.  I praise them for their peristence as well as the others that joined the movement.  For 6 months they sat, took the abuse & hatred until they were allowed to eat at the counters like the paying white customers.  It is because of these men(along with many others) that I have the rights that I do.  That I can be on a trip with people of many races, & eat wherever I feel like when I walk into a resturant.

I also think how 4 boys with 1 idea, 1 vision and 1 goal changed our entire country.  It is encouraging to me that you never know how much of an impact you can make until you try.  These boys were doing something for themselves that in turn has helped millions of others.  This should be encouraging to us all to fight for what we believe and never think that you can’t make an impact.

As we went through the museum we also saw pictures and films of blacks being hosed down by firement, beat by police officers, lynched by angry whites, abused and killed by the KKK.  I struggled when I saw a suit of the KKK along with the mask hanging up.  Ugliness…

At the end of the day I am proud and encouraged.

I’m ready for day 2 and Atlanta!

God Bless

Filed under Uncategorized | Comments (2)