Jibreel Khazan (born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr.; October 18, 1941) is a civil rights activist who is best known as a member of the Greensboro Four, a group of African American college students who, on February 1, 1960, sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina challenging the store's policy of denying service to non-white customers. They also did not give up their seats when a police officer arrived and menacingly slapped his nightstick against his hand directly behind them. In 1965, he moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he worked as a teacher and counselor for the developmentally challenged. He served on university boards and received an honorary doctorate, according to the Civil Rights Digital Library. By simply remaining in their seats peacefully and quietly, they flummoxed the staff and left them unsure on how to enforce their whites-only rule. [9] In 2010, Khazan was the recipient of the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal from the Smithsonian Institution. Ezell Blair Jr.. Self: February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four. In 1958, Khazan heard King speak at the local Bennett College. The four North Carolina A & T students are (L-R): David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr., and Joseph McNeil. He worked as a janitor and battled many demons, sad that he couldnt improve the world more than he had. Jibreel Khazan (born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr.; October 18, 1941) is a civil rights activist who is best known as a member of the Greensboro Four; a group of African American college students who, on February 1, 1960, sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina challenging the store's policy of denying service to non-white customers. Four Black Woolworths employeesGeneva Tisdale, Susie Morrison, Anetha Jones and Charles Bestwere the first to be served. He later moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he changed his name to Jibreel Khazan. On February 1, 1960, David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. (Jibreel Khazan), and Joe McNeil, four African American students from North Carolina A&T State University, staged a sit-in in Greensboro at Woolworth, a popular retail store that was known for refusing to serve African Americans at its lunch counter. A Greensboro native, he graduated from Dudley High School and received a . They were students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College. The protests, and the subsequent events were major milestone in the Civil Rights Movement. All Rights Reserved. They mean that young people are going to be one of the major driving forces in terms of how the civil rights movement is going to unfold., Listen to HISTORY This Week Podcast: Sitting in For Civil Rights. Four years later, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 would mandate all businesses to desegregate. He was elected president of the junior class, and would later become president of the school's student government association, the campus NAACP and the Greensboro Congress for Racial Equality. Google says they were also influenced by the techniques of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. A Greensboro native, born in the city on October 18, 1941, Blair graduated from Dudley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. CNN.com describes what the students went through when they staged the Greensboro sit-in. From left to right: Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair, Jr.), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeill, and David Richmond. The Greensboro Four, as they came to be known, acted to challenge the lunch counters refusal to serve African Americans. As its members faced increased violence, however, SNCC became more militant, and by the late 1960s it was advocating the Black Power philosophy of Stokely Carmichael (SNCCs chairman from 1966-67) and his successor, H. Rap Brown. Touring history with Avett Brothers' bassist Bob Crawford. Activist Ella Baker, then director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, organized the youth-centered groups first meeting. The movement was about simple dignity, respect, access, equal opportunity, and most importantly the legal and constitutional concerns., READ MORE:8 Steps That Paved the Way to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Khazan is married to the former Lorraine France George of New Bedford. But the students did not budge. The year was 1960, and segregation raged throughout the country, but the students decided they had had enough. The university. McCain was one of four N.C. A&T students who led sit-ins at the Woolworth lunch counter in downtown Greensboro in 1960. "[5], In 1959, Khazan graduated from James B. Dudley High School, and entered the A&T College of North Carolina. They also worked with the NAACP to get the 1964 Civil Rights Act passed. According to PBS.org, the police were called but were unable to take action against the four students due to lack of provocation. Woolworths closed early that day. Led by four North Carolina A&T Students - Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, Jibreel Khazan (then Ezell Blair, Jr.) and David Richmond, the nonviolent protests lasted over five months. It is reported that as a nine-year-old he boasted to friends that he would one day drink from the white peoples fountains and eat at their lunch counters. Blair was the most uncertain of the four who decided to stage the Woolworth protest, and recalls calling his parents to ask their advice. In 2002, North Carolina A&T commissioned a statue to be sculpted honoring Khazan, along with the three other members of the A&T four: Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond. All Rights Reserved. Hudgens had participated in the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation against racial segregation on interstate buses. Counters in other cities did the same in subsequent months. Biographies of the A&T Four Jibreel Khazan Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair, Jr.) was born in Greensboro, North Carolina on October 18, 1941. Lunch counter sit-ins then moved beyond Greensboro to North Carolina cities such as Charlotte, Durham and Winston-Salem. Copyright: Jack Moebes/Corbis. For starters, according to History.com, they were upset about the 1955 murder of Emmett Till, who was slain after being accused of whistling at a white woman in Mississippi. On February 1, 1960, the four students sat down at the lunch counter at the Woolworths in downtown Greensboro, where the official policy was to refuse service to anyone but whites. Ezell Blair, Sr. and his wife, Corene, were the parents of Jibreel Khazan, (Ezell A. Blair Jr.) one of the four North Carolina A&T State University students who participated in the first sit-in at the Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro on February 1, 1960. The Greensboro Four were four young Black men who staged the first sit-in at Greensboro: Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil. The sit-ins not only attracted new protesters, they also drew counter-protesters who showed up to harass, insult and assault them. One member of the Greensboro Four, Joseph McNeil, resolved to integrate lunch counters after a 1959 trip to New York, a city where he hadnt encountered Jim Crow laws. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most Popular Movies Browse Movies by Genre Top Box Office Showtimes & Tickets Movie News India Movie Spotlight. Blair, along with Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain, and David Richmond, decided to stage the sit-in protest as a way of challenging the racial segregation that was prevalent in their community. Not only were lunch counters across the country integrated one by one, a student movement was galvanized. The sit-in demonstrations were just the beginning of Khazan's community involvement. The Greensboro Fours efforts inspired a sit-in movement that eventually spread to 55 cities in 13 states. They waited. Khazan also recalls an American Civics teacher, Mrs. McCullough, who told her class Were preparing you for the day when you will have equal rights., He was also influenced by Martin Luther King Jr. The Greensboro sit-in took place in Greensboro, North Carolina, and has echoes of Rosa Parks and other symbolic moments that eventually helped end segregation in the United States. Martin Luther King Jr. to join them in integrating the cafeteria at Richs Department Store in Atlanta in 1960, Guzmn says. The figures are depicted walking out of Woolworth's . Then, the next day, they returned to do it all over again, according to CNN. In 1965, he moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he worked as a teacher and counselor for the developmentally challenged. This monument provides a larger-than-life portrayal of Jibreel Khazan (then known as Ezell Blair Jr.), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and David Richmond, four NC A&T students who became known as the "Greensboro Four" for their sit-in at Woolworth's department store in 1960. The Greensboro sit-in. Jibreel Khazan (born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr.; October 18, 1941) is a civil rights activist who is best known as a member of the Greensboro Four, a group of African American college students who, on February 1, 1960, sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina challenging the store's policy of By February 5, some 300 students had joined the protest at Woolworths, paralyzing the lunch counter and other local businesses. As he had been labeled a "troublemaker" for his role in the Greensboro Sit-Ins, life in Greensboro became difficult for Khazan. Word quickly spread about the Greensboro sit-in, and both North Carolina A&T and Bennett College students took part in the sit-in the next day. Their names were Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil. SNCC worked alongside the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) to push passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and would later mount an organized resistance to the Vietnam War. Robert C. Maynard, the first African American editor and owner of a major daily newspaper in the United States, was known as a trailblazing journalist who led efforts to desegregate newsrooms and educ Duke Ellington, byname of Edward Kennedy Ellington, (born April 29, 1899, Washington, D.C., U.S.died May 24, 1974, New York, N.Y.), American pianist who was the greatest jazz composer and bandleade Frances role in the Trans Atlantic Slave, African Chiefs role in the Trans Atlantic, sit-in protest at Woolworths lunch counter, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Neighborhood children greet Ms. Gibson upon her return to Harlem after winning Wimbledon in 1957. The sit-in movement soon spread to college towns throughout the South. A&T freshmen Ezell Blair Jr. (now known as Jibreel Khazan), Joseph McNeil and the late David Richmond and Franklin McCain ignited a movement at the segregated downtown F.W. 20072023 Blackpast.org. What sparked the Greensboro Four, as the students were known, to take such courageous action? This page was last modified on 24 April 2023, at 04:46. The protests played a definitive role in the Civil Rights movement because they sparked additional protests, eventually making the movement too large to ignore, Google says. In 1958, Khazan heard King speak at the local Bennett College. He was 49 years old when he died in 1990 and received a posthumous honorary doctorate degree from At&T State University. We even had people who saw the sit-ins that were taking place at the lunch counter drive from other states to come down here, Swaine says. He had to move to Massachusetts because the publicity made it difficult to get a job in Greensboro. Khazan received his early education from Dudley High School, where his father taught. After nearly a week of protests, approximately 1,400 students showed up to the Greensboro Woolworth to demonstrate. In 1968, he joined the Islamic Center of New England and changed his name to Jibreel Khazan. [4] Shortly before his death, McCain was interviewed by his granddaughter, Taylor, who asked him to define freedom. As he had been labeled a "troublemaker" for his role in the Greensboro Sit-Ins, life in Greensboro became difficult for Khazan. In 1968, he joined the Islamic Center of New England and changed his name to Jibreel Khazan. He was a student government leader. At the time of the protest, he was a student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he was studying engineering. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. [3] In 1963, Khazan graduated from A&T College with a Bachelor's degree in sociology and Social Studies. Read more, Greensboro Voices: Voicing Observations in Civil Rights and Equality struggles, Greensboro Public Library (Greensboro, N.C.), Oral history interview with Ezell and Corene Blair, Records that have the exact phrase Montgomery Bus Boycott, Records with the word integration that also contain the words Albany and/or Augusta, Records with the name King but not the name Martin, Records containing the phrase Freedom Rides and the name Carter, Records containing the words Selma and Lewis or Selma and Williams, Use quotation marks to search as a phrase, Use "+" before a term to make it required (Otherwise results matching only some of your terms may be included), Use "-" before a word or phrase to exclude, Use "OR", "AND", and "NOT" (must be capitalized) to create complex boolean logic, You can use parentheses in your complex expressions, Truncation and wildcards are not supported. In three days, their numbers had swelled to 300. He was elected president of the junior class, and would later become president of the school's student government association, the campus NAACP and the Greensboro Congress for Racial Equality. In 1959, Khazan graduated from James B. Dudley High School, and entered the A&T College of North Carolina. By the spring of 1960 the sit-in movement spread to 54 cities in nine states in the South. But they did not move. They were all students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro. In addition to desegregating dining establishments, the sit-ins led to the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Raleigh. [5] Khazan stated that he had seen a documentary on Mohandas Gandhi's use of "passive insistence" that had inspired him to act. Image: Original caption: 2/1/1960 - Greensboro, NC: The participants in the first lunch counter sit-in are shown on the street after leaving the Greensboro, North Carolina Woolworth's by a side exit. It was during his freshman year that Khazan and his roommate, Joseph McNeil; along with two other associates, Franklin McCain and David Richmond, devised a plan to protest against the policies of the segregated lunch counter at the downtown Greensboro F. W. Woolworth's store. 2023, Charter Communications, all rights reserved. They also took inspiration from civil rights causes of years earlier, including the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till and the Montgomery bus boycott. They waited some more. We provide access to these materials to preserve the historical record, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices, or behaviors found within them. Jan 27, 2020. After graduating from A&T in 1963, Blair encountered difficulties finding a job in his native Greensboro. After graduation, He briefly studied law at Howard University Law School in Washington, DC. Blair was president of the junior class, the student government association, the campus NAACP and the Greensboro Congress of Racial Equality. [1][2], Khazan was born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr. on October 18, 1941, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Today Khazan is an oral historian, oracle, Mass-Star Story teller and lecturer. By the end of March 1960, the movement had spread to 55 cities in 13 states. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. was born on October 18, 1941 and is 81 years old now. As the week unfolded, dozens of young people, including students from the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, flocked to lunch counters and asked to be served. In addition, the four men each have residence halls named for them on the university campus. According to History.com, they also were influenced by Mohandas Gandhi and the Freedom Riders and their principles of non-violent protest. Did you know? Jibreel Khazan (previously Ezell Blair, Jr). It's honored with a Google Doodle. King's words had made a huge impact with Khazan, so much so that he later remarked that "he could feel his heart palpitating" and that the words of King "brought tears to his eyes. See MoreSee Less, Neighborhood children greet Ms. Gibson upon her return to Harlem after winning Wimbledon in 1957 (No photographers were allowed into Woolworth's during this first protest; this is the only photo of all four original protesters together.). Eventually, they prevailed, and Woolworths stopped segregating its dining area on July 25th, 1960, Google reports. As of 2018 Ezell Blair is 76 years years old. The Greensboro Four stayed put until the store closed, then returned the next day with more students from local colleges. In 1963, Khazan graduated from A&T College with a Bachelor's degree in sociology and Social Studies. It was said that when he experienced unjust treatment based on color, he "stood up." He went on to work for Celanese Corporation in Charlotte, North Carolina for 35 years, and he stayed active in the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Click here to sign up for email and text alerts. Recommended Citation. Another critical part of the protest was looping in the media. The Belles resolved to serve as look-outs when the four men took their seats at the lunch counter on the first day. [3][8] Today Khazan is an oral historian, oracle, Mass-Star Story teller and lecturer. Report Video . He changed his name to Jibreel Khazan and became involved in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and other civil rights organizations. They refused. In 2010, Khazan was the recipient of the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal from the Smithsonian Institution. 0 54. After graduation, He briefly studied law at Howard University Law School in Washington, DC. We strive for accuracy and fairness. Ezell Blair Jr. was the son of a teacher who received his B.S. He also has worked with the AFL/CIO Trade Council in Boston, the Opportunities Industrialization Center, and at the Rodman Job Corps Center. He was captivated as King addressed the audience in attendance. Her writing has appeared in The Guardian, NBC News, The Atlantic, Business Insider and other outlets. By the spring of 1960 the sit-in movement spread to 54 cities in nine states in the South. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! He was a student government leader. In response to the success of the sit-in movement, dining facilities across the South were being integrated by the summer of 1960. Notes about review of interview transcripts with Carmichael, Ezell Blair, Lucy Thornton, and Jean Wheeler. Birthday: October 18, 1941 How Old - Age: 81 Recently Passed Away Celebrities and Famous People. On February 1st, 1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina, four A&T freshmen students, Ezell Blair, Jr. (Jibreel Khazan), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and David Richmond walked downtown and "sat - in" at the whites-only lunch counter at F.W. The four students were inspired by the nonviolent teachings of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr., and they believed that peaceful direct action was the best way to bring about change. African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project, Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University, Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), Education - Historically Black Colleges (HBCU), Foundation, Organization, and Corporate Supporters. On February 1, 1960, Blair, along with McNeil, Franklin and Richmond, took the bold step of violating the Greensboro Woolworth's segregation policy. [10] On October 12, 2021, Khazan was honored with the renaming of a city park in the west end of New Bedford, MA. [7] In 2002, North Carolina A&T commissioned a statue to be sculpted honoring Khazan, along with the three other members of the A&T four: Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond. Part of the original counter is on display at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. Blair, Richmond, McCain and McNeil planned their protest carefully, and enlisted the help of a local white businessman, Ralph Johns, to put their plan into action. On Feb. 1, 1960 four Black freshmen at North Carolina A&T State University, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair, Jr., and David Richmond, took seats at the segregated lunch counter of F. W. Woolworth's in Greensboro, N.C. The reaction was ugly in the short-term, but in the long-term the protests spread and made real change. We strive for accuracy and fairness. King's words had made a huge impact with Khazan, so much so that he later remarked that "he could feel his heart palpitating" and that the words of King "brought tears to his eyes.". Khazans courageous actions helped to bring attention to the injustices of segregation and inspired others to join the fight for civil rights. He was captivated as King addressed the audience in attendance. No one would serve them. He attended law school at Howard University for almost a year before a variety of maladies forced him out. Find History on Facebook (Opens in a new window), Find History on Twitter (Opens in a new window), Find History on YouTube (Opens in a new window), Find History on Instagram (Opens in a new window), Find History on TikTok (Opens in a new window), first sit-ins during the civil rights movement, https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/the-greensboro-sit-in. Sit-in demonstrations by Black college students grew at the Woolworth's in Greensboro and other local stores, February 6, 1960. None of it deterred the protesters. One of the original Greensboro Four who took part in the Woolworth sit-ins. Each of the participants in the sit-in had different catalysts, but it is clear that the four men had a close friendship that mutually reinforced their desire to act. Ezell Blair Jr. Jibreel Khazan (born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr.; October 18, 1941) is a civil rights activist who is best known as a member of the Greensboro Four; a group of African American college students who, on February 1, 1960, sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina challenging the store . Ezell was born on October 18, 1941 in Greensboro, North Carolina.. Ezell is one of the famous and trending celeb who is popular for being a Activist. Some of the first sit-ins during the civil rights movementwere organized by history teacher Clara Luper and the NAACP Youth Council in Oklahoma City in1958. Its use of nonviolence inspired the Freedom Riders and others to take up the cause of integration in the South, furthering the cause of equal rights in the United States. Movies. Khazan stated that he had seen a documentary on Mohandas Gandhi's use of "passive insistence" that had inspired him to act. The former Woolworth's in Greensboro now houses the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, which features a restored version of the lunch counter where the Greensboro Four sat. Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities 2023 |. David Richmond, the fourth member and McCain's freshman college roommate, died in 1990. They were asked to leave. GREENSBORO Civil rights leader Franklin McCain has died. Woolworth. The Greensboro sit-in was a civil rights protest that started in 1960, when young African American students staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworths lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, and refused to leave after being denied service. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. Please ignore rumors and hoaxes. All Rights Reserved. It took months, but on July 25, 1960, the Greensboro Woolworth lunch. All articles are regularly reviewed and updated by the HISTORY.com team. Khazan works with developmentally disabled people for the CETA program in New Bedford, Mass. His name is now Jibreel Khazan. Greensboro Sit-In: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. in sociology from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University in 1963. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. Multiple lunch counter sit-ins had taken place in the Midwest, East Coast and South in the 1940s and 1950s, but these demonstrations didnt garner national attention. His 1964 interview describes the Greensboro sit-ins in Chapter 5 of Who Speaks for the Negro? Jibreel Khazan (born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr.; October 18, 1941) is a civil rights activist who is best known as a member of the Greensboro Four, a group of African American college students who, on February 1, 1960, sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina challenging the store's policy of After graduating from A&T in 1963, Blair encountered difficulties finding a job in his native Greensboro. Original materials provided by the University of Kentucky and Yale University libraries and digitized with the permission of the Warren estate. McCain's death left Ezell Blair (now Jibreel Khazan) and Joseph McNeil as the two surviving members of the Greensboro Four. Blair and the other three students were refused service when they sat down at Woolworths lunch counter, but they refused to leave and stayed at the counter until the store closed. They were refused service and sat peacefully until the store closed. Frye Gaillard, The Greensboro Four: Civil Rights Pioneers (Charlotte, N.C.: Main Street Rag Publishing Co., 2001); William H. Chafe, Civilities and Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Black Struggle for Freedom (New York: Oxford University Press, 1980). The Greensboro Sit-In was a critical turning point in Black history and American history, bringing the fight for civil rights to the national stage. TV Shows. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. In addition, the four men each have residence halls named for them on the university campus. All four were students from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College. They were influenced by the nonviolent protest techniques of Mahatma Gandhi. Ezell A. Blair Jr. was one of the four African American college students who initiated the sit-in protest at Woolworths lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, on February 1, 1960. Ezell Blair is a member of famous Activist list. This was a forerunner to the 1961 Freedom Rides, just as the 1942 sit-in at the Jack Spratt Coffee House in Chicago was a forerunner to the Greensboro sit-in of 1960. He later moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he changed his name to Jibreel Khazan. [4] It was said that when he experienced unjust treatment based on color, he "stood up. After the Greensboro sit-ins, Blair became a prominent civil rights activist and organizer. A look at one of the defining social movements in U.S. history, told through the personal stories of men, women and children who lived through it. The Greensboro sit-in wasnt a random act of rebellion, but the result of months of planning. She is the author of Toni Morrison's Spiritual Vision and other books. The Greensboro sit-ins are considered one of the biggest events of the Civil Rights Movement and set the standard for modern nonviolent protest and resistance. They have three children, one of whom graduated from A & T. Do you find this information helpful? Jibreel Khazan (born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr.; October 18, 1941) is a civil rights activist who is best known as a member of the Greensboro Four; a group of African American college students who, on February 1, 1960, sat down at a segregated Woolworth's lunch counter in downtown Greensboro, North Carolina challenging the store's policy of