February One honors 'four'
on '60s sit-in silver anniversary
Recipients of this year's One
Community awards are: Elreta Al-
exander-Ralston, the first elected
black woman judge in the South;
Dr. Alvin Blount, physician, civic
leader and chairman of the A&T
Foundation; Lewis A. Brandon III,
activist and educational specialist
with the Triad Sickle Cell Anemia
Foundation; Ervin Brisbon, activist
and Morningside Homes Residence
Council president; Joseph Bryan,
philanthropist; Claudette Burroughs-White, former United Way
board chairman, president of the
Black Social Workers and volunteer
with the Greensboro affiliate of the
National Black Child Development
Institute Inc.; Joan Crew, Urban
Ministry night shelter volunteer;
Nora Dial, first college student to
be honored by the February One
Society and activist in the Native
American community, particularly
among the Lumbee people; the Rev.
Samuel Fogle, pastor of g
Baptist Chureh; Doug Gal,
mer city councilman; Joseph Hay-
worth Jr. of High Point, Alma Desk
Co. executive and founding presi
dent of John Coltrane Memorial
Jazz Festival Inc., named for the
famous saxophonist from High
Point.
Also honored were: Lewis Kne-
bel, now of College Park, Md., who,
with the late James Isler, founded
the Urban Affairs Institute at A&T;
J. Kenneth Lee, first black student
at the University of North Carolina |
at Chapel Hill, leader in legal action
to open the university system to|
minorities, founding president of
American Federal Savings & Loan
and first black member of the N.C.
Banking Commission; William Martin, state senator; Carrie McClen-
ton, active in Concerned Citizens
for Schools and a Community Unity
Division volunteer in the 1960s and
early 1970s; William C. Parker,
businessman; Robert "Pat" Patterson, local banker and student leader
at A&T in the 1960s; Alex Stoesen,
Guilford College historian; and Edward Zane, who led negotiations on
. -spen accommodations in the early
1960s and served as chairman of the
L. Richardson Memorial Hospital
Board of Trustees.
By KELLY MITCHELL-CLARK
Staff Writer
On Feb. 1, 1960, four N.C. A&T State University freshmen got a lot of attention in Greensboro
for not being welcomed at a downtown lunch counter. Twenty-five years later the four continued to
get a lot of attention, but this time they were welcomed in the city as heroes.
Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain and David
Richmond were among those honored Friday night
on the silver anniversary of the historic Woolworth
sit-ins. The fourth original sit-in participant, Jibreel Khazan, was unable to attend the celebration.
The celebrants sang, ate and heard messages
promoting racial harmony in A&T's Memorial Student Union ballroom Friday night. More than 400
people, black, white and Native American, paid $20
a ticket to take part in the -activities. About 300
more wanted tickets but couldn't get them, according to an organizer of the event.
A high point of the evening was jazz singer
Lizz Spraggins of Atlanta who had the audience
holding hands and swaying to the music as she sang
the phrase "We are sharing" repeatedly.
Gala V was sponsored by the February One
Society, which takes its name from the date of the
first sit-in. The society presents awards annually to
those in the community who promote good race relations — the "one-community" concept.
Richmond, who lives in Greensboro, told the
crowd to rededicate itself and get on with the business of making Greensboro a better place to live.
McNeil said that although he and his three
friends took the initiative on Feb. 1, 1960, they
were just the tip of the iceberg of those frustrated
with segregation.
McCain said that things have changed in 25
years, but that more progress is needed. He noted
the high level of black unemployment and poverty.
James Kirkpatrick, Greensboro's mayor pro
tern, said that at the time of the sit-ins, the city
"didn't have a Bull Connor, but it wasn't exactly a
racial oasis either."
He said he attended the Gala representing the
city to recognize the original sit-in participants and
"to salute the whole concept of the February One
Society."
Kirkpatrick said the Greensboro Four should
be no less revered than America's soldiers. "They
could have stayed in that dormitory, safe and secure, and let the injustices of the system go unchallenged," Kirkpatrick said.
Kirkpatrick said it's important for all Greensboro residents to realize that, "Folks, we're all in
the same boat together; we'll sink or swim together."
James Johnson, a sociology professor at A&T,
told the audience that the civil rights struggle of
the 1960s and all those who were a
part of it "must become an oasis of
renewed energy" for those to keep
struggling today.
Calling the Greensboro Four
"true drum majors for justice and
peace and dignity," A&T Chancellor
Edward B. Fort said the actions of
the four didn't divide the city but
rather helped to heal its racial inequities.
Fort, along with A&T student
body president James France, then
dedicated a bronze bas-relief depicting the four as they left Wool-
worth's on Feb. 1, 1960. The bas-
relief, done by local sculptor Ogden
Deal, will hang in the atrium of the
student union.
Other program participants included Sandra Hughes, co-host of
WFMY-TV's "PM Magazine," former U.S. Rep. Robin Britt, Mpho
Tutu, daughter of Nobel Peace',
sPrize recipient Bishop Desmond
Tutu, Thomas Stith, special assistant for minority affairs for Gov.*
Jim Martin, Ruth Revels, and Dr.
George Simkins.
I Leaders David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain]
I More than 400 helped honor three on silver anniversary
