The Greensboro sit-in is the subject of a Google Doodle on February 1, 2020 for the 60th anniversary of the action. He served on university boards and received an honorary doctorate, according to the Civil Rights Digital Library. 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. 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. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. Get the latest news, sports and weather delivered straight to your inbox. He worked as a janitor and battled many demons, sad that he couldnt improve the world more than he had. 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. David Richmond died young. by mcgorry. 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. Though many of the protesters were arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace, their actions made an immediate and lasting impact, forcing Woolworths and other establishments to change their segregationist policies. In 1965, he moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he worked as a teacher and counselor for the developmentally challenged. Report Video . To capitalize on the momentum of the sit-in movement, the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded in Raleigh, North Carolina, in April 1960. By the spring of 1960 the sit-in movement spread to 54 cities in nine states in the South. according to the Civil Rights Digital Library. But they did not move. 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. Menu. Biographies of the A&T Four Jibreel Khazan Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair, Jr.) was born in Greensboro, North Carolina on October 18, 1941. By the end of March 1960, the movement had spread to 55 cities in 13 states. Woolworth. They were refused service and sat peacefully until the store closed. Joseph McNeil earned a degree in engineering physics in 1963 and joined the U.S. Air Force, where he became a captain. Some content (or its descriptions) found on this site may be harmful and difficult to view. Nadra Nittle is a veteran journalist who is currently the education reporter for The 19th. 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. In 1958, Khazan heard King speak at the local Bennett College. Ezell A. Blair Jr. was one of the four African American college students who initiated the sit-in protest at Woolworth's lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, on February 1, 1960. All Rights Reserved. As demonstrations spread to 13 states, the focus of the sit-ins expanded, with students not only protesting segregated lunch counters but also segregated hotels, beaches and libraries. in sociology in 1963. As of 2018 Ezell Blair is 76 years years old. His 1964 interview describes the Greensboro sit-ins in Chapter 5 of Who Speaks for the Negro? Then, the next day, they returned to do it all over again, according to CNN. Birthday: October 18, 1941 How Old - Age: 81 Recently Passed Away Celebrities and Famous People. By that time, Johns had already alerted the local media, who had arrived in full force to cover the events on television. In addition, the four men each have residence halls named for them on the university campus. They also took inspiration from civil rights causes of years earlier, including the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till and the Montgomery bus boycott. In 1968, he joined the Islamic Center of New England and changed his name to Jibreel Khazan. A Greensboro native, he graduated from Dudley High School and received a . In February 1960, while an 18 year-old freshman at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College (A&T), Blair and three other students began a sit-in protest at the lunch counter of a Woolworths store in Greensboro, North Carolina. Today Khazan is an oral historian, oracle, Mass-Star Story teller and lecturer. 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 All four were students from North. This page was last modified on 24 April 2023, at 04:46. 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. The next day, they returned to the store with more students and continued their sit-in protest. [12], "Civil Rights Greensboro: Jibreel Khazan", University of North Carolina at Greensboro, "Jibreel Khazan (Formerly Ezell Blair Jr.)", "Oral History Interview with Jibreel Khazan by William Chafe:: Civil Rights Greensboro", "Ezell Blair, Stokely Carmichael, Lucy Thornton and Jean Wheeler | Who Speaks for the Negro? 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. Woolworth's whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro to protest segregation. She is the author of Toni Morrison's Spiritual Vision and other books. The sit-ins establish a crucial kind of leadership and organizing of young people, says Jeanne Theoharis, a Brooklyn College political science professor. After graduation, He briefly studied law at Howard University Law School in Washington, DC. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. Death Fact Check Ezell is alive and kicking and is currently 81 years old. On February 1, 1960, Blair, along with McNeil, Franklin and Richmond, took the bold step of violating the Greensboro Woolworth's segregation policy. After graduating from A&T in 1963, Blair encountered difficulties finding a job in his native Greensboro. 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. 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. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. He participated in Freedom Rides, voter registration drives, and other forms of nonviolent direct action to challenge segregation and promote equality and justice for all. Jan 27, 2020. According to History.com, they sat down and refused to leave, after having been denied service because of their race. In 1959, Khazan graduated from James B. Dudley High School, and entered the A&T College of North Carolina. In 1965, he moved to New Bedford, Massachusetts, where he worked as a teacher and counselor for the developmentally challenged. In three days, their numbers had swelled to 300. Eventually the manager closed the store early and the men leftwith the rest of the customers. He lives in New York. The students came to be called the Greensboro Four. in sociology from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical State University in 1963. Jibreel Khazan (now Ezell Blair Jr.) was one of the original four who took part in the Woolworth sit-ins. The protests and the subsequent events were major milestones in the Civil Rights Movement. Ezell A. Blair, Jr. was born on October 18, 1941 and is 81 years old now. In 1958, Khazan heard King speak at the local Bennett College. He was a student government leader. TV Shows. 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. They refused. While a student at A & T he was elected to attend the meeting at Shaw University in Raleigh at which the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was formed. Khazan stated that he had seen a documentary on Mohandas Gandhi's use of "passive insistence" that had inspired him to act. 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. The February One Monument is an important landmark on A&T's campus that sets it apart from other institutions. SNCC also pushed King to take a more forceful stance against the war in Vietnam in 1967 and popularized the slogan Black Power! in 1966.. Joseph Alfred McNeil (born March 25, 1942) is a retired major general in the United States Air Force who is best known for being 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 He married the former Lorraine France George of New Bedford. 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. Jibreel Khazan (previously Ezell Blair, Jr). His breaking point was when he was not served a hot dog at the Greensboro bus terminal, according to Carolina Theatre. Lunch counter sit-ins then moved beyond Greensboro to North Carolina cities such as Charlotte, Durham and Winston-Salem. The sit-in demonstrations were just the beginning of Khazan's community involvement. [9] In 2010, Khazan was the recipient of the James Smithson Bicentennial Medal from the Smithsonian Institution. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. WATCH: The Civil Rights Movement on HISTORY Vault. 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. Activist Ella Baker, then director of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, organized the youth-centered groups first meeting. 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. They told him to do what he must and to carry himself with dignity and grace. They also did not give up their seats when a police officer arrived and menacingly slapped his nightstick against his hand directly behind them. SNCC was pivotal in pushing the Rev. After nearly a week of protests, approximately 1,400 students showed up to the Greensboro Woolworth to demonstrate. Over the next few years, SNCC served as one of the leading forces in the civil rights movement, organizing Freedom Rides through the South in 1961 and the historic March on Washington in 1963, at which Martin Luther King Jr. gave his seminal I Have a Dream speech. He continued his education at Massachusetts University and later at the New England Conservatory of Music, where he studied voice.[7]. Khazan was born Ezell Alexander Blair Jr. on October 18, 1941, in Greensboro, North Carolina. Police arrested 41 students for trespassing at a Raleigh Woolworth. Martin Luther King Jr. to join them in integrating the cafeteria at Richs Department Store in Atlanta in 1960, Guzmn says. In 1963, Khazan graduated from A&T College with a Bachelor's degree in sociology and Social Studies. Hudgens had participated in the 1947 Journey of Reconciliation against racial segregation on interstate buses. 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. McCain was one of four N.C. A&T students who led sit-ins at the Woolworth lunch counter in downtown Greensboro in 1960. On February 1, 1960, Ezell Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeillater dubbed the Greensboro Fourbegan a sit-in at a Woolworth's lunch counter in. 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. 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. 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 He attended law school at Howard University for almost a year before a variety of maladies forced him out. Ezell Blair is a member of famous Activist list. The Greensboro sit-in wasnt a random act of rebellion, but the result of months of planning. Khazan works with developmentally disabled people for the CETA program in New Bedford, Mass. He then went into computer sales and worked as a stockbroker and commercial banker. After the Greensboro sit-ins, Blair became a prominent civil rights activist and organizer. The sit-ins not only attracted new protesters, they also drew counter-protesters who showed up to harass, insult and assault them. The protests and the subsequent events were major milestones in the Civil Rights Movement. They were students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College. On February 1, 1960, four college students - Ezell Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil - sat read more. 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. Ezell Blair Jr. was the son of a teacher who received his B.S. Powered by. 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. As he had been labeled a "troublemaker" for his role in the Greensboro Sit-Ins, life in Greensboro became difficult for Khazan. In 1991, Khazan received an honorary doctorate of humanities degree from North Carolina A&T State University. Four years later, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 would mandate all businesses to desegregate. But the students did not budge. Notes about review of interview transcripts with Carmichael, Ezell Blair, Lucy Thornton, and Jean Wheeler. Description. Today, he is remembered as a hero of the Civil Rights Movement and a symbol of the power of nonviolent resistance to bring about change. It was said that when he experienced unjust treatment based on color, he "stood up." July 1, 2020. 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. The protests, and the subsequent events were major milestone in the Civil Rights Movement. 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.". The Greensboro sit-in was a major moment in the American civil rights movement when young African-American students staged a sit-in at a segregated Woolworths lunch counter in North Carolina. As he had been labeled a "troublemaker" for his role in the Greensboro Sit-Ins, life in Greensboro became difficult for Khazan. In late 1959, the Greensboro Four participated in NAACP meetings at Bennett College, where they collaborated with the women students known as the Bennett Belles on a plan. Franklin McCain graduated from A&T with a degree in chemistry and biology. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. 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. [10] On October 12, 2021, Khazan was honored with the renaming of a city park in the west end of New Bedford, MA. The four North Carolina A & T students are (L-R): David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair, Jr., and Joseph McNeil. These materials may be graphic or reflect biases. He attended law school at Howard University for almost a year before a variety of maladies forced him out. Google says they were also influenced by the techniques of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Updated: January 25, 2022 | Original: February 4, 2010. Did you know? Original materials provided by the University of Kentucky and Yale University libraries and digitized with the permission of the Warren estate. [4] It was said that when he experienced unjust treatment based on color, he "stood up. Police arrived on the scene but were unable to take action due to the lack of provocation. The Greensboro sit-in. His father was a member of the NAACP and very vocal on the subject of racial injustices and "things naturally rubbed off on me", described Khazan in a 1974 interview. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Together they have three children. CNN.com describes what the students went through when they staged the Greensboro sit-in. They refused to leave when denied service and stayed until the store closed. Not only were lunch counters across the country integrated one by one, a student movement was galvanized. He changed his name to Jibreel Khazan and became involved in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and other civil rights organizations. 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. His name is now Jibreel Khazan. They also worked with the NAACP to get the 1964 Civil Rights Act passed. 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. 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. We strive for accuracy and fairness. 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. The four men who were denied service at a Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina, pose in front of the store on February 1, 1990. ", North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, "FebruaryOne: The Story of the Greensboro Four", "50 years later, Greensboro Four get Smithsonian award for civil rights actions", "New Bedford Must Lift Up Celebration of Dr. Jibreel Khazan With a Statue", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ezell_Blair_Jr.&oldid=1143803857, This page was last edited on 10 March 2023, at 00:30. They waited. By the spring of 1960 the sit-in movement spread to 54 cities in nine states in the South. Ezell Blair begins this interview by describing his participation in the Greensboro student sit-in and describes the students Ezell Blair, Stokely Carmichael, Lucy Thornton and Jean Wheeler. 2023, Charter Communications, all rights reserved. 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. This is the real beginnings of TV media; people can see the sit-in and imagine how they would do it themselves, said Theoharis, author of The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks. In 1991, Khazan received an honorary doctorate of humanities degree from North Carolina A&T State University. At the end of July, when many local college students were on summer vacation, the Greensboro Woolworths quietly integrated its lunch counter. Copyright: Jack Moebes/Corbis. In response to the success of the sit-in movement, dining facilities across the South were being integrated by the summer of 1960. The store manager then approached the men, asking them to leave. Ezell Blair, Jr. (later Jibreel Khazan), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond organized the sit-in. North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, "Photo of Jibreel Khazan Receiving Award (Ezell Blair, Jr.)" (1961). While lunch counter sit-ins had taken place before, the four young men from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University drew national attention to the cause. 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. He was a student government leader. Upon his return to North Carolina, the Greensboro Trailways Bus Terminal Cafe denied him service at its lunch counter, making him determined to fight segregation. What sparked the Greensboro Four, as the students were known, to take such courageous action? GREENSBORO Civil rights leader Franklin McCain has died. He majored in business administration and accounting and became a counselor-coordinator for the CETA program in Greensboro. The students had received guidance from mentor activists and collaborated with students from Greensboro's all-women's Bennett College. The year was 1960, and segregation raged throughout the country, but the students decided they had had enough. 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. 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. In addition to desegregating dining establishments, the sit-ins led to the creation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in Raleigh. By the early 1970s, SNCC had lost much of its mainstream support and was effectively disbanded. 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. By Birth Year | By Birth Month | By Death Year | By Death Month | Random, Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy | Copyright. Spectrum News Text and Email Alerts Sign-up, California Consumer Limit the Use of My Sensitive Personal Information, California Consumer Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. [5] Khazan stated that he had seen a documentary on Mohandas Gandhi's use of "passive insistence" that had inspired him to act. Khazans courageous actions helped to bring attention to the injustices of segregation and inspired others to join the fight for civil rights. After graduating from A&T in 1963, Blair encountered difficulties finding a job in his native Greensboro. At the time of the protest, he was a student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he was studying engineering. Greensboro Sit-In: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. 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). 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. Counters in other cities did the same in subsequent months. At the time of the protest, he was a student at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, where he was studying engineering. "[5] 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.[1], He was also influenced by Martin Luther King Jr. On February 1, 1960, Blair, along with McNeil, Franklin and Richmond, took the bold step of violating the Greensboro Woolworth's segregation policy. 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. 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. Its success led to a wider sit-in movement, organized primarily by the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), that spread throughout the South. In 1968, he joined the Islamic Center of New England and changed his name to Jibreel Khazan. They were influenced by the nonviolent protest techniques practiced by Mohandas Gandhi, as well as the Freedom Rides organized by the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE) in 1947, in which interracial activists rode across the South in buses to test a recent Supreme Court decision banning segregation in interstate bus travel. Touring history with Avett Brothers' bassist Bob Crawford. It took months, but on July 25, 1960, the Greensboro Woolworth lunch. Khazan received his early education from Dudley High School, where his father taught. Robert Penn Warren Center for the Humanities 2023 |. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! They were all students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro. 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. The white waiter refused and suggested they order a take-out meal from the "stand-up" counter. The Greensboro Four, as they came to be known, acted to challenge the lunch counters refusal to serve African Americans. A Greensboro native, born in the city on October 18, 1941, Blair graduated from Dudley High School in Greensboro, North Carolina. Though many were arrested for trespassing, disorderly conduct or disturbing the peace, national media coverage of the sit-ins brought increasing attention to the civil rights movement. Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. It took months, but on July 25, 1960, the Greensboro Woolworth lunch counter was finally integrated. The reaction was ugly in the short-term, but in the long-term the protests spread and made real change. He had been a high school track star and was born in Greensboro. 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. It was a small victoryand one that would build. Updated: January 29, 2021 | Original: July 28, 2020. Click here to sign up for email and text alerts. [4] Shortly before his death, McCain was interviewed by his granddaughter, Taylor, who asked him to define freedom. According to History.com, they also were influenced by Mohandas Gandhi and the Freedom Riders and their principles of non-violent protest. 2023, A&E Television Networks, LLC. 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. Eventually, they prevailed, and Woolworths stopped segregating its dining area on July 25th, 1960, Google reports. The Greensboro Four, as they became known, had also been spurred to action by the brutal murder in 1955 of a young Black boy, Emmett Till, who had allegedly whistled at a white woman in a Mississippi store. See MoreSee Less. He also has worked with the AFL/CIO Trade Council in Boston, the Opportunities Industrialization Center, and at the Rodman Job Corps Center. We provide access to these materials to preserve the historical record, but we do not endorse the attitudes, prejudices, or behaviors found within them. Articles with the HISTORY.com Editors byline have been written or edited by the HISTORY.com editors, including Amanda Onion, Missy Sullivan and Matt Mullen. They were asked to leave. One of the original Greensboro Four who took part in the Woolworth sit-ins. Blair was president of the junior class, the student government association, the campus NAACP and the Greensboro Congress of Racial Equality. 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 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.