Black law enforcement officers
commemorate the historic Greensboro sit-in
Movement to fight segregation spread to 13 states and 55 cities
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
On Feb. 1, 1960, four
freshmen from N.C. A&T
State University, Ezell
Blair Jr. (Jibreel Kha-
zan), Franklin McCain,
Joe McNeil, and David
Richmond, walked into
the F.W. Woolworth Com
pany department store in
downtown Greensboro,
sat down on the brightly
colored seats at the lunch
counter, and sparked a
movement that would ig
nite communities across
the country to fight against
segregation.
To commemorate the
61st anniversary of that
historic day, earlier this
week more than a dozen
top Black law enforcement
officers in the state met
at the former department
store, which is now home
of the International Civil
Rights Center & Museum.
The commemoration
event was planned by
Chief Catrina Thompson,
who is with the Winston-
Salem Police Depart
ment (WSPD), and her
staff. When discussing
the event, Thompson said
the Black sheriffs and po
lice chiefs stood on the
shoulders of people like
the Greensboro Four. She
said, “We stand on the
shoulders of people like
them and so many others
who had the strength and
courage to move forward.
Quite frankly, I think that
without people like them,
people like us holding
these positions would be
impossible.”
Thompson said al
though we’ve made great
strides, there is still work
to be done. She said it’s
Photo by Tevin Stinson
On Monday, February 1, the top Black law enforcement officers in the state met at the International Civil Rights
Center & Museum in Greensboro.
clear that racism is still
alive and she believes that
the Black leaders in law
enforcement are obligated
to pave the way for the
next generation.
“We’ve come a long
way, but there is still work
to be done,” Thompson
said.
Others who joined
Thompson at the com
memoration ceremony
included Mecklenburg
County Sheriff Garry L.
Rogers, Guilford County
Sheriff Danny H. Rog
ers, Wake County Sheriff
Gerald M. Baker, Dur
ham County Sheriff Clar
ence F. Birkhead, Forsyth
County Sheriff Bobby
F. Kimbrough, Cumber
land County Sheriff Ennis
Wright, Pitt County Sher
iff Paula Dance, Raleigh
Police Chief Cassandra
Deck-Brown, Greensboro
Police Chief Brian James,
Charlotte-Mecklenburg
Police Chief Johnny Jen
nings, Fayetteville Police
Chief Gina V. Hawkins,
and Durham Police Chief
Cerelyn J. Davis.
The International Civil
Rights Center and Muse
um documents the story of
the Greensboro Four. After
more than five months of
planning during what they
called “bull sessions,”
where they discussed ways
they could dismantle seg
regation, that Monday
afternoon they stopped
talking and put their plan
in action. The boys met
at the library on campus
and marched downtown
straight to Woolworth’s
and sat down at the “White
Only” lunch counter.
At that time, it was
Woolworth’s policy that
all people of color had
to order at the end of the
counter and leave imme
diately after they got their
food. Woolworth’s sold
other items besides food,
so when Blair, McCain,
McNeil and Richmond
entered the store that day,
they purposely bought
other items and got re
ceipts before sitting down
to prove they were paying
customers.
They had only been sit
ting down for about a min
ute when they were told to
leave, but not from whom
you would expect. It was a
Black woman who worked
in the kitchen who saw
what was going on and
told them to leave. When
discussing the woman in
the documentary “Febru
ary One: The Story of the
Greensboro Four,” Blair
said the woman told them
“It’s people who like you
who make our race look
bad.” When the manager
of the establishment real
ized that the young men
weren’t leaving and he
was losing business, he de
cided to close the store for
the day.
But it didn’t end there.
Despite the situation
getting more hostile, the
next day Blair, Franklin,
McCain and Richmond
returned with even more
people.
The peaceful protest
continued for days and
each day more people, both
Black and white, joined
the movement. By Feb. 5,
nearly 300 students had
joined the protest at Wool
worth’s and by the end
of March, the movement
had spread to 55 cities in
13 different states, includ
ing here in Winston-Salem
where 11 students from
Winston-Salem Teacher’s
College (now Winston-Sa
lem State University) and
Wake Forest College (now
Wake Forest University)
staged a sit-in at a lunch
counter downtown.
That summer all lunch
counters across the state
were desegregated, all
thanks to four freshmen
who were willing to risk
their lives to bring about
change.
The documentary pro
duced by FilmRise Fea
tures, “February One: The
Story of the Greensboro
Four,” can be viewed on
YouTube. For more infor
mation on the International
Civil Rights Center & Mu
seum or to schedule a tour,
visit www.sitinmovement.
org.
Board approves middle school redistricting, future of Philo-Hill
programming still in question
BY TEVIN STINSON
THE CHRONICLE
Last week the Win
ston-Salem/Forsyth Coun
ty Schools Board of Edu
cation approved a middle
school redistricting plan
that will bring some ma
jor changes to the district
beginning with the 2021-
2022 school year that will
directly impact students at
several schools.
Here’s what we know:
Talks about middle school
redistricting began last
year to prepare for the
opening of a new school
in the fall, Lewisville Mid
dle. Cost for construction
of the new school was part
of the $350 million bond
referendum approved by
voters in 2016. The school
will hold about 800 stu
dents and will reduce
overcrowding at Jefferson
and Meadowlark Middle
Schools. Students will
be assigned to Lewisville
Middle for the 2021-2022
school year and the school
won’t enter the list of
Choice Zone Schools until
the 2022-2023 school year.
The motion approved
by the board last week will
also affect students who
attend Hanes, Mineral
Springs and Philo-Hill.
At Hanes, the district
is looking to move current
residential students, who
live on the north side of
the city, to a school closer
to their neighborhoods,
Mineral Springs. Up un
til 2015, Hanes shared a
building with Lowrance,
a special needs school, on
Indiana Avenue, but when
it was discovered that the
site had groundwater con ¬
www.wschronicle.com
tamination, the school
board voted to move the
schools. Although the wa
ter in the building is safe,
parents demanded that the
smdents be moved, ulti
mately leaving the board
with no other option.
Lowrance now shares
a building with Paisley IB
Magnet School and Hanes
is currently located on the
south side of the city, but
still serves students who
live on the north side.
Next year, current resi
dential smdents who attend
Hanes will be reassigned
to Mineral Springs, which
is located on Ogburn Av
enue; however, students
will have the option to
stay at Hanes as a magnet
smdent. Hanes will have a
new residential boundary
around the school’s cur
rent location. Essentially,
Hanes will have the same
zoning boundaries as the
old Hill Middle School.
In December the board
also discussed closing
Philo-Hill next school year
while renovations to the
gym, dining area, and ad
ministrative building are
being completed. Instead,
the board voted to keep
students on campus while
the renovations are being
completed.
While that’s settled,
it’s still unclear what edu
cational model Philo-Hill
will have moving forward.
The initial recom
mendation proposed by
Homan Atashbar, direc
tor of smdent assignment,
was to reopen Philo-Hill
See School on A7