"In commemoration of the 150th anniversary of the Civil War's Battle of Atlanta, will will kick off our 2014 program at the Atlanta Cyclorama & Civil War Museum with the inspiring documentary February One," states Camille Russell Love, Director of the City of Atlanta Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs. "On Thursday, February 6 at 7 pm we'll screen this film which tells the story of the 1960 Greensboro lunch counter sit-ins that revitalized the Civil Rights Movement. Since legislation which came directly out of the Civil War laid the groundwork for the modern Civil Rights Movement, we feel our audiences will want to see this powerful documentary. This event is FREE and open to the public so put it on your calendar and join us."
The Greensboro Four, Ezell Blair, Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil, were friends at North Carolina A&T University before becoming political activists. On January 31, 1960 the four dared other to do something that would change their lives forever. The decided to sit-in at the whites-only lunch counter at Woolworth's in downtown Greensboro the next day.
On February 1st, dressed in their Sunday best, the four men sat down at the lunch counter. They were refused service and when they didn't leave, the store manager closed the counter. In the days that followed the four were joined by students from local Black colleges and white students who also sat-in at other counters in Greensboro. The Civil Rights Movement was the first major social movement to be covered by television news so word of the events spread across the nation like prairie fire. Within days students were sitting in at lunch counters in fifty-four cities around the South. Finally after months of protests the Woolworth management quietly integrated its lunch counter.
The screening of February One is being presented in partnership with Urban Film Review. After the film, historian and educator Nasir Muhammad will lead the audience in a facilitated dialogue.
The Atlanta Cyclorama is conveniently located near downtown Atlanta, in Historic Grant Park, at 800 Cherokee Avenue SE, Atlanta, GA 30315. "Like" us on Facebook for the latest updates: http://on.fb.me/1f1ImC7. For more information and to plan your visit visit our web site: www.atlantacyclorama.org.