SNCC and The 1960s Sit-in Movement

The Sit-in

“On February 1, 1960, four freshmen at A&T College in Greensboro, North Carolina, sat in at a segregated  Woolworth lunch counter  downtown. In a matter of days the idea leaped to other cities in North Carolina. During the next two weeks sit-ins spread to fifteen cities in five Southern states. Within the following year, over 50,000 people – most were black, some white – participated in some kind of demonstration or another in a hundred; and over 3600 demonstrators spent time in jail. In a year several hundred lunch counters had been desegregated in Southern cities.”…

“Black student movements usually occur during the same time that mass black movements are full bloom. Different leaders and organizations influence the birth and direction of these movements….The black student movement of the 1960s began with the sit-ins. When SNCC, the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee was formed, it served as an ad-hoc coordinating committee for local centers of action. In the early 1960s SNCC provided the movement with a center for non-violent direct action against racial discrimination. …” Excerpts from  On the Black Student Movement 1960-70 – by Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford) 1960s national field chairman of the Revolutionary Action Movement (RAM) http://www.columbia.edu/cu/ccbh/mxp/stanford.html

“In the sixties one of the main objectives of the black student movement was to breakdown barriers to African Americans achieving economic, political, and social parity in American society. When these barriers were temporarily altered, many African Americans thought the  “collective” struggle was over and concentrated on individual success. African Americans need to understand that individual success for African Americans (who are an oppressed nationality) is interrelated to group success because a chain is only as strong as its weakest link.” Muhammad Ahmad (Max Stanford)

References:

http://www.lexisnexis.com/documents/academic/upa_cis/16313_BlackPowerMovemPt3.pdf

SNCC

SNCC 1960-1966: Six years of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating …

This sparked a wave of other sit-ins in college towns across the South. The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, or SNCC (pronounced “snick”), was  …

SNCC-Events: Sit-ins – Ibiblio

The first sit-in on February 1, 1960 in Greensboro, North Carolina, is said to have been the catalyst for an entire movement, including the birth of SNCC.

The Sit-in

Woolworth’s Lunch Counter – Separate Is Not Equal

When asked to leave, they remained in their seats. Their passive resistance and peaceful sit-down demand helped ignite a youth-led movement to challenge …