Today was a great start to this year's trip. We left very early this morning and made our way to Greensboro, North Carolina where we had a tour of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum. The building was formerly the Woolworth's shopping center and diner, where the Greensboro sit-ins took place in 1960. The museum preserved the original lunch counter at which the original protesters sat, and seeing that backdrop that had been touched by such an incredibly important moment in the civil rights movement was a hugely surreal experience. Learning about the four original North Carolina A&T students who began the protests, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Jibrerl Khazan, and David Richmond, was really inspiring and enlightening. The courage that they displayed in the face of outright hatred makes me feel like I need to do a better job engaging in social justice around me and working to actually create change more often than just talking about it.
One quote I liked from the day was from John Lewis: "I felt like a soldier in a nonviolent army", because it displayed his bravery and commitment to the civil rights cause.
Seeing the monument of the A&T four also stuck with me a lot, because in my eyes it cemented them as heroic figures that should be remembered and celebrated, whose legacy should be carried on in social justice initiatives today. I hope to create many more impressionable memories in the coming days.
-Pablo Richter
Baltimore City College
No comments:
Post a Comment