The A&T Register
When I was in middle and high school I was a firm believer in the
actions and words of Malcolm X. Even to this day, the message he
delivered in his speeches, books, and actions have changed my life more
than anyone else outside of my family.
With this being said, many times I found it hard to see how anyone being
oppressed could fight their oppressor by just sitting, marching, and
praying. Quite frankly, it made no sense to me that anyone thought these
actions would change much of anything. I viewed it as passive and
cowardly.
However, years later I've had some time to grow, study, and rethink my
ideas. Today I realize I was 100 percent wrong.
51 years ago, at the Woolworth counter in Greensboro, NC, Franklin
McCain, Joseph McNeil, Ezell Blair Jr., and David Richmond all took the
initiative to sit. Until recently, I never took the time to process the
heart and courage it took to sit.
These men sat against hundreds of years of oppression, hatred, social
ignorance, fear, the status quo, etc.. These men, who were just kids at
the time, proved that not just anyone can sit.
This was a group of kids who realized they were living in extreme times.
A time of revolution. A time where there had to be a change. People who
were in power had misused it, and there had to be a change and a better
world had to be built.
The only way to do this was to use extreme methods. And to be able to
have the ability to be able to sit across from a white person in the
early 1960s and refuse to move was not only foolish, but also extremely
courageous.
I say foolish because the consequences may have been fatal. However,
this action was courageous because it proved that these young people
were more than just talk.
I believe Patrick Henry said it best when he said "Liberty or death!"
Although, 51 years later, three of the four have lived to tell the tale
of that faithful day, this was surely an action that could of resulted
in life or death.
College students or not, to stand up to any white man or woman in the
early 1960s meant that you were either looking for trouble, or simply
tired of being classified as a second-class citizen. Either way, this
was a major risk.
A physical death was the price that many had to pay to free their
children of a permanent psychological death. And these four youngsters
were highly aware of the possibility of becoming one of those people.
So 51 years later I ask "Was it worth it?"
William Shakespeare once presented the question "To be or not to be?"
This is a question that will continue to be asked during the course of
the rest of our lives.
However, on February 1, 1960 the question at hand involved freedom and
equality.
"To be a nigger, or not to be?" "To be a man, or not to be?" "To be
silent, or not to be?" "To be an example for the next generation, or not
to be?" "To be treated as less than a person for the rest of my days, or
not to be?" "To be a person who sits back and does absolutely nothing to
change my own miserable condition, or not to be?"
A ton of questions that may seem easier to answer in 2011 than it ever
would have been in 1960. From a land that preached integration and
practiced segregation, to be a Negro in America was much like being a
wet match in a dark cave.
African Americans were surrounded in darkness. However, many people,
especially the A&T Four, refused to be swallowed by it. And although
today their vision is very clear, I've always wondered how a man or
woman could put his or her life on the line for people they have never
met, and will possibly never see.
Even though I may never fully understand, I do know that every fight is
not fair, however someone must still fight every fight. Regardless of
the outcome, it is important to fight. It is important to be willing to
give up everything because some fights may take everything.
So when asked was it worth it, I say yes with no hesitation. We may not
have been there to start the fire, but we are here now to carry the
torch.
The generation of fighters we have today would be nothing without the
men and women who came before us and showed us what we are even fighting
for. So now our future is clear because we know our history.
Sometimes I must admit that I would like to give up, or at least take a
break. However that's usually when I close my eyes and see Emmitt Till's
face.
For as hurtful and deceitful this country has been to black people, it
amazes me that if most of the people who lived during the country's most
difficult time were forced to do it all over again, they would gladly do
it in the same skin they're in. For there is proof that love, patience,
and a dream can change the entire world.
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