All tagged civil rights
When most of us think of the Civil Rights Movement in North Carolina, our minds go immediately to the sit-ins at Woolworth’s in Greensboro in the 1960s. We think of Dr. King’s speech “I Have a Dream” delivered on August 28, 1963, during the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom.
Roughly three years before the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education on May 17, 1954, ordered the end of segregation in U.S. public schools, students at Adkin High School demonstrated their disgust with inadequate educational facilities and materials by planning and executing the Adkin Walkout of November 20, 1951.
Circle Sunday, August 22, on your calendar, and make plans to be at the Queen Street United Methodist Church at 2 p.m. for the opening of the Gizella Gross Abramson Resource Center for Holocaust and Civil Rights Education. The church is at 500 North Queen Street in Kinston. The opening ceremony will begin with a service featuring presenters and music and culminating in the Center’s dedication. After the initial festivities, attendees will be able to socialize and tour the facility.
Some may be uncomfortable reading my words today, but they need to be said. As a community, we need to take action. Last week I wrote about Barbara Johns of Farmville, Va., who organized a walkout at Moton High School on April 23, 1951.
When I started researching the Adkin High School Walk-out of 1951, I heard about another student walk-out – one that occurred in Farmville. Since I had taught at Farmville Central High School in Pitt County, I assumed the walk-out occurred there. We all know what happens when we assume. I had missed the location by roughly 170 miles. That walk-out took place in Farmville, Va., in Prince Edward County.
On behalf of the Adkin High School Alumni and Friends, Inc. Board of Directors, we would like to thank Mike Parker for “The article that sparked the Adkin Walkout of 1951.” It was accurate and timely as we look forward to next year’s celebration of 70 years since this historic civil rights moment occurred in Kinston. This happened before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat, before the NC A&T sit-ins and before the March on Washington.
We, the members of Lambda Pi Chapter of the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc., chartered in 1974 in Kinston, NC, would like to send a clear and direct message to the Lenoir County community. The Brothers of Lambda Pi are empowered to be community change agents, while standing for social justice.
