Google is checked out Black History Month with a doodle that memorializes the 60th anniversary of the Greensboro sit-ins.
The Greensboro sit-in was a major moment in the American civil rights movement, on this day in 1960; four men began a movement of nonviolent protest against segregated Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.
The four students went to the Woolworth store in Greensboro sit-in. When they sat down at the “whites only” counter and ordered a cup of coffee, they were asked to leave. They waited. No one would serve them. They waited some more. Then, the next day, they returned to do it all over again.
Their names were Ezell Blair Jr., David Richmond, Franklin McCain and Joseph McNeil. They were students at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical College. The four young men were inspired by the nonviolent protest techniques of Mahatma Gandhi and were motivated to protest after the murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in 1955.
Today’s doodle designed by Compton-based guest artist Karen Collins, who is founder of the African American Miniature Museum. This doodle is a photo of a scene that describes the “Greensboro Four” protesting racial segregation at the Woolworth’s lunch counter on February 1, 1960.
“Organized by four Black college freshmen, the protest against segregation served as a catalyst for similar demonstrations throughout the nation,” Collins wrote in a blog post. “Today’s Doodle diorama not only pays homage to the sit-in, but also to everything that came as a result: changes in our country to make it more possible for ALL Americans—no matter their race, color, or creed—to live to their full potential.”
“For me, the museum was a way to turn the negativity into something positive and share the stories of our ancestors’ strength and perseverance through hardship,” Collins wrote in a blog post. “I want young people to learn about those that came before them who sacrificed to help make the lives they live today possible. Most importantly, I want them to see that we each have the power to make it through difficult times to thrive and hopefully make things better for those who come after us.”
