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GREENSBORO — The Greensboro sit-ins of 1960 are history, but people cannot rest on that deed and still pursue the civil rights struggle,   panelists said to several hundred people at the N.C. A&T’s Alumni Event Center  on Thursday night.

The forum, “21st Century Activism and Protest: The State of the Civil Rights Movement ,” was the inaugural event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the sit-ins and the opening of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum on Monday.

The panelists talked about the problems in the black community and apathy in youth, but no real solutions were offered .

“The important thing tonight is not that anything was answered, but that conversation was sparked and ignited,” said    host Ed Gordon , an Emmy award-winning TV and radio  journalist.

“The goal should be when you leave here, to continue the discussion,” he said. “Something that lit a fire in you tonight should then move you.”

The forum was divided into two segments. The first six-person panel was intended to discuss past sit-ins, marches and boycotts. The second intended to focus on emerging leaders and contemporary civil rights issues.

The panelists included college students, N.C. A&T Chancellor Harold Martin , Bennett College for Women President Julianne Malveaux , award-winning journalist and sports analyst Stephen A. Smith,  and attorney and radio talk show host Warren A. Ballentine .

Activist and A&T alumnus the Rev. Jesse Jackson  likened the initial sit-in on Feb. 1, 1960 , to a spark that advanced the civil rights movement. Four  A&T freshmen started a series of sit-ins at the segregated lunch counter at F.W. Woolworth  in downtown Greensboro, leading to its integration in July 1960 . 

“Something magical happened in Greensboro,” Jackson said. “There was a movement leading up to that, and when the fire struck Greensboro, the wind blew and it captured the nation.”

He said the movement is not just rendered in the past tense, it’s continuous.

“This is not a spectacular one-round, one-lick fight,” Jackson said.

“I want us to honor the four who broke the ice. We dishonor all the models if you sit in here tonight without a (voter) registration card. You’re a sitting, walking, talking contradiction. You’ve got to use this freedom to bring about change.”

Jackson expressed disappointment in the lack of voters in Greensboro’s mayoral election. Bill Knight, a white man,  beat incumbent Yvonne Johnson, a black woman, by 935  votes.

Jackson and the educators on the panel also discussed  the importance of young people knowing their history.

“We have to continue to reinforce our history,” Malveaux said. “We know what our history is, and we have to make it come to life.”

That comes by teaching youth about global issues and looking at information critically, such as the economic structure that could lead to poverty and inequality.

Martin said some of the brightest students are coming into schools now, and educators must prepare them for life once they leave campus.

“We have to encourage them and engage them in substantial ways so that we’re motivating them,” Martin said.

Jackson said the movement ebbs and flows, and the main purpose of the movement is to even the playing field for all people.

“Freedom is a timeless idea,” he said. “Let’s not look for another reason to divide and subdivide because we all need each other intergenerationally.”
 

Contact Dioni L. Wise at 373-7090 or dioni.wise@news-record.com