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GREENSBORO — And so they came.

They came holding signs and singing songs and even remaining silent as they marched up East Market Street from N.C. A&T, in a line that stretched underneath the railroad trestle as far as the eye could see.

They marched toward downtown Greensboro, toward the five-and-dime store that reignited the civil rights movement and helped integrate our world a half-century ago.

They were at least 1,500 strong, probably more. Young and old. Black and white. Current college students and college students from long ago.

They all followed the footsteps of Feb. 1, 1960, the day four black teenagers left A&T, walked downtown and sat down at a whites-only lunch counter at F.W. Woolworth and asked to be served.

We all know the story of the Greensboro sit-ins and the struggle sparked by students Ezell Blair Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), Joseph McNeil, Franklin McCain and David Richmond.

The marchers did, too. But they all came to march for different reasons that were incredibly meaningful to them.

Demika McLean came in her pink peace earrings. She brought her daughters — Arianna McLean, 12, and Omaya Lyons, 6 — as she walked clutching to her chest “The Everything,’’ a book about civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

McLean is 34, a student at GTCC studying communications. She remembered what her mother always told her: “You need to take a piece of history with you wherever you go.’’

And she was doing just that, with her daughters by her side.

Gabrielle Blakemore, a junior at Bennett College, came in her time-capsule outfit from 1960: a black dress, a black jacket her mother gave her, white gloves and a string of fake pearls she bought at Walmart.

She pulled it together because she wanted to remember her Bennett College sisters from generations ago who sat down and picketed at Woolworth — and got thrown in jail — so Jim Crow would end.

She also pulled it together to sing. On Monday morning, she and the other members of the Bennett College Choir walked into Bennett’s Pfeiffer Chapel as if they stepped out of a 1960s catalog.

They sang for an hourlong program and rattled the chapel with their a cappella harmony as they pulled out freedom songs such as “Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me ’Round.’’

But as she stood in line, with dozens of her Bennett  sisters around her, Blakemore was quiet. She walked toward downtown, following the footsteps of her collegiate ancestors, with her freedom song in her head.

Ann McCracken came from Sanford with her husband, Webb. But she also came with memories heavy on her mind.

She’s a graduate of Woman’s College, now known as UNCG. She was from the class of ’60, and she counts as her friends today some of her white classmates who joined A&T and Bennett College students during the sit-ins.

But McCracken didn’t. She didn’t want to risk not graduating, especially when her own college officials adamantly told her and her  classmates to steer clear of Woolworth.

She always regretted that. So on Monday, at age 70, she came back.  She wanted to show her support, something she wished she had done long ago.

Then there was Ron Tuck.

He came dressed all in black — a black beaver hat, a black mink coat and black-striped corduroy slacks. He came to remember the late David Richmond, who had once painted for him. He also came to pay tribute to his alma mater, A&T.

Tuck is now 59, a general contractor and a man-mountain who stands 6 foot 4, 315 pounds. He’s also from the class of ’75, a walk-on football player who became a star defensive end for the Aggies. A&T gave him a chance.

So, like everyone, he came Monday to remember. And he came singing. Many marchers who passed didn’t notice. But if you stopped, you could hear it, his scratchy tenor, just beneath his breath:

Ain’t gonna let nobody, turn me ’round, turn me ’round, turn me ’round

Ain’t gonna let nobody, turn me around

I’m gonna keep on a-walkin’,  keep on a-talkin’,

Marching up to freedom land.
 

Contact Jeri Rowe at 373-7374 or jeri.rowe@news-record.com