The North Carolina city where sit-ins took root as a popular form of protesting segregation in the 1960s is recognizing the 50th anniversary of those events.
The Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton are scheduled to speak Thursday night at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro on the topic of 21st-century activism and protest.
On Feb. 1, 1960, four black students at N.C. A&T sat down at the segregated lunch counter at the F.W. Woolworth store in downtown Greensboro and demanded service. The protest continued until July, when the counter was desegregated.
Events will continue Saturday through Monday, when the International Civil Rights Center and Museum opens on the site of the former Woolworth’s. The three surviving members from the Greensboro protests are expected to attend the opening.
