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N.C. A&T to celebrate 66th civil rights sit-in anniversary on Friday

Community members gathered at the February One monument on N.C. A&T's campus for the anniversary celebration in 2024.
Amy Diaz
/
WFDD
Community members gathered at the February One monument on N.C. A&T's campus for the anniversary celebration in 2024.

North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University will commemorate the 66th anniversary of a student-led sit-in on Friday.

On Feb.1, 1960, four NC A&T freshmen sat down at Woolworth’s “whites only” lunch counter in Greensboro, demanding equal service.

Their protest helped desegregate the restaurant and launched a sit-in movement across the South.

The university celebrates the anniversary every year, honoring the A&T Four: Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair Jr.), Franklin McCain Sr., Joseph McNeil and David Richmond Jr.

This event’s theme is “Rooted in Legacy: Impacting Generations.” It includes a breakfast, and a panel discussion with three graduates, including Frank McCain Jr., the son of McCain Sr.

After the program, attendees will walk to the February One monument on campus for a wreath-laying ceremony.

The event is free and open to the public.

Amy Diaz began covering education in North Carolina’s Piedmont region and High Country for WFDD in partnership with Report For America in 2022. Before entering the world of public radio, she worked as a local government reporter in Flint, Mich. where she was named the 2021 Rookie Writer of the Year by the Michigan Press Association. Diaz is originally from Florida, where she interned at the Sarasota Herald-Tribune and freelanced for the Tampa Bay Times. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of South Florida, but truly got her start in the field in elementary school writing scripts for the morning news. You can follow her on Twitter at @amydiaze.

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