Honoring the heroes of the past: the Rev. William Barber urges action at N.C. A&T

GREENSBORO — On the anniversary of the nation’s most famous sit-in, a national civil rights leader called for more action to tackle several pressing national issues.

The Rev. William Barber on Friday urged an audience at N.C. A&T to fight for health care, the right to vote and a living wage and other concerns crucial not just to African-Americans but to poor people of all races and colors.

“There is a national emergency, and it’s time for you and I to sound the alarm,” Barber said. “Anything less is to dishonor those who we claim are our heroes of the past.”

Barber spoke at the Sit-In Anniversary Breakfast Celebration, the annual event that commemorates the four A&T freshmen who took seats at the whites-only Woolworth lunch counter in downtown Greensboro on Feb. 1, 1960. Their persistent and nonviolent action at the discount store, now the site of the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, launched a sit-in movement that swept the South and led ultimately to national civil rights laws that struck down racial segregation.

Read more: https://www.greensboro.com/news/schools/honoring-the-heroes-of-the-past-the-rev-william-barber/article_9c247bb4-8544-5f0a-b161-a506b8b9a849.html