THE PENDULUM
STYLE
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 2010 // PAGE 19
Woolworth museum honors protestors of injustice
Marlena Chertock
Design Intern
History happens fast. Fifteen to 20
years after the Woolworth sit-ins, the
lunch counter and store were integrated.
Elon communications professor
Anthony Hatcher, then a student of
UNC Greensboro, sat down at the store
in 1975, but now remembers the store
without segregation.
“No doubt that the 1960s was
a decade of change,” Hatcher said.
“People don’t give the 1970s credit, with
Watergate, the Vietnam War ending,
but a lot of racial barriers were finally
knocked down."
The first exhibit in the International
Civil Rights Center and Museum
prepares visitors to enter the horrors
and courage of the 1960s civil rights
movement and beyond.
The exhibit begins with a sign that
states the constitutional right, “All
men are created equal." Behind the
statement, signs announcing “white
only" and “no colored allowed" light
up, signifying the dissonance between
alleged inalienable rights and the
reality of early America. The museum
opened on Feb. 1, and guided tours are
currently in place.
The Gala and Banquet, originally
scheduled for Jan. 30, has been
rescheduled because of inclement
weather. It will take place Feb. 13
at the Koury Convention Center in
Greensboro, N.C. from 7-9 p.m. Tickets
are $100 and can be ordered from www.
sitinmovement.org or at the Koury
Convention Center in Greensboro.
Assistant account executive for RLS
Communication RoKeya Worthy, said
an estimated 3,000 people attended the
grand opening events for the museum.
“It was good, considering the
weather,” Worthy said.“Everybody
was so excited. It was almost like
inauguration all over again. Being there
to see a historic event.”
Worthy said there was considerable
national media coverage. There was
a lot of media coverage for the event
including CBS Today, NBC Nightly News,
Diane Sawyer, ABC, CNN and the New
York Times.
“At one point, (the tour guide) was
talking about the Birmingham church
bombings,” Ann Morris, a visitor, said.
“She pointed at my child, saying the girls
who were killed were not older than her.
It really brings it close to home.”
A younger visitor described what
was most significant to her.
“The two-sided Coke machine,”
Gracie Anderson said. “One side was
for African-Americans and one side was
for white people. They could not use the
same side."
As visitor, Thomas Hay, exited the
museum, he described the era as a trying
time. He participated in demonstrations
in Maryland when he was younger. Hay
said the most powerful exhibit to him
was the re-enactment of the original
four Greensboro non-violent protestors,
Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell
Blair Jr. and David Richmond.
“The idea where they were going
to challenge the system, challenge
something they saw wrong is so
impactful,” Hay said.
1
LAUfiEN HAMSDELL | Ptxjtograptw
Several pictures by Pulitzer Prize-winning photographer Matthew Lewis, line an entire room in the International Civil Rights Center and Museum.
Worthy describes one exhibit, the
Hall of Fame, in detail. She uses words
such as “intense” and “graphic” to
give a better picture. Children are not
recommended to go through that part
of the museum.
“(It is) a heart-wrenching exhibit.
Right in your face, tough to look at,”
Worthy said.
The exhibit shows what happened to
the people who stood up for their rights,
such as church bombings, murders or
high-pressure hoses being turned on
marchers. The effects were devastating,
Worthy said.
The ending image is one of Emmett
Till, a black 14-year-old brutally
murdered in Mississippi in 1955 for
allegedly whistling at a white woman.
The last exhibit meshes numerous
photographs of faces from the civil
rights movement. As one backs away
from the smaller pictures, the faces
create a larger picture of President
Barack Obama with a statement when
he was a senator about overcoming
barriers. Photographs in the room
depict non-violent protests around the
world. The museum comes full circle,
illustrating how the struggle for human
rights internationally continues.
Curatorial Program Associate Lolita
Watkins said the original men from N.C.
A&T University, who conducted the first
sit-in, visit the museum all the time.
“They’ve been back since the effort
started 17 years ago,” Watkins said.
“They were here on Monday, Feb. 1.”
McCain, McNeil and Blair Jr. attended
the museum’s opening events.
“They were overcome. Joyful, proud
and energized in terms of hoping we
will have people walk in their footsteps
and strive to achieve to make America a
better place," Watkins said.
LAUREN BAMSDELLI Photogfaphec
Visitors wait for the museum’s guided tour beside the famous photograph of the four N.C. A&T
University students, Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr. and David Richmond.
m
LAUREN RAMSOELL I Photogr«ph*>
This exhibit, named “The Civil Rights Movement Through the Lens of Pulitzer-Winning
Photographer Mathew Lewis," captures several moments of the social movement.
Local Mnternetainers' use the Internet to spread laughter
Mariah Irvin
Reporter
Rhett McLaughlin and Link Neal
have been best friends since they
were detained from recess in first
grade for writing bad words on
their desks. Now, the pair creates
humorous musical parodies and gets
paid for it.
McLaughlin andNeal, better known
on the Web as Rhet t&Link, are involved
in self-coined “Internetainment”
with more than 200 Web videos that
have been featured on CNN, BBC,
Fox News, WGN, TV Guide and G4’s
Attack of the Show. The local North
Carolinians write, edit and produce
all of their videos.
They also hosted a TV show on the
CW in 2007, called “Online Nation,"
and were musical correspondents for
the Science Channel's “Brink” last
year.
In addition to online sketches
and musical parodies, Rhett & Link
has made two award-winning films,
“Looking for Mrs. Locklear” and “One
Man’s Trash."
McLaughlin and Neal weren’t
always Internet stars. Both worked
as engineers after graduating from
North Carolina State University.
They knew that they didn’t want to be
engineers forever, and the transition
from engineers to owning and
operating a company was not easy.
“It was a process,” McLaughlin and
Neal said. “Going from engineering
to working with the campus ministry
we'd been involved with as college
students, to hosting a network
television show, to starting our own
Web production company.”
As best friends, McLaughlin and
Neal knew they had “something
special." Having a long history
together allows them to be more
comfortable as business partners.
“Knowing one another so well
also helps to make communication
efficient,” McLaughin said. “We know
how to read one another. We disagree
a lot, but that back and forth is one of
the keys of our creative process.”
McLaughlin and Neal agree when
creating videos, they enjoy working
with people. They cannot choose any
part of the production process they
enjoy more than another part.
“Every stage has its benefits and
frustrations,” Neal said. “But it’s
always fun to see a video finally
come together and be launched out
there for everyone to experience.”
Although they spend most of their
time being funny, McLaughlin and
Neal have some advice for college
students.
“The key to college is striking a
balance between enjoying yourself
and working hard," Neal said. “People
who let the pendulum swing too far in
either direction are some of the most
unhappy people you'll ever meet.”
McLaughlin and Neal said they
enjoy making videos and entertaining
the masses.At the end of the day the
two of them agree, “We make them
for you," they said.
> i i i t L C