February One...

Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II - image source at link below

Topics: African Americans, Bennett College, Civil Rights, Human Rights, Women's Rights

I will be at the breakfast this morning. I met the speaker briefly at a graduation at Duke University as my sister-in-law and one of his ministers earned Masters degrees. I am positive even if I got through the crowd to greet him, he wouldn't remember me.

I solicit very rarely, and I don't do it for myself. Bennett College along with Spelman in Atlanta, Georgia are the ONLY HBCUs for African American women. It is vitally important that Bennett and all of our colleges survive. No Historically Black College and University exists, no church or religious order; black fraternity or sorority exists because we "self-segregated." We were the subject of the dark trilogy of American Apartheid, American hypocrisy. and blatant discrimination. What was meant for evil has been turned to good for the betterment of a community and a nation. The International Civil Rights Museum in Greensboro is the old Woolworth counter. What was meant for evil in a lot of venues has been transformed to and for the common good.

It is in the spirit of this and the audience I reach, I ask for your generosity. I have given, and I solicit your support. Their plight has essentially become a theme for this important month. The link is at the hash tag following. Any amount would be greatly appreciated.

#StandWithBennett

EAST GREENSBORO, N.C. (Jan. 7, 2019) – MacArthur Genius Grant awardee and national co-chair of the Poor People’s Campaign Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II will serve as keynote speaker for the February One Sit-In commemorative program at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University.

Celebrating the legacy of Jibreel Khazan (Ezell Blair Jr.), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and David Richmond -- better known collectively as the A&T Four – the event annually marks the day when those N.C. A&T freshmen refused to leave a segregated lunch counter at a downtown Greensboro Woolworth’s. Their simple act of defiance touched off a sit-in movement nationwide and established a prominent place for them in U.S. civil rights history.

Rev. Barber’s work is related in many ways to the legacy of the A&T Four. He was elected president of the NAACP Youth Council at 15, and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in political science at North Carolina Central University. He subsequently earned a master’s degree from Duke and a doctorate from Drew University before being named pastor of Greenleaf Christian Church in Goldsboro, N.C., a post he has held since 1993.

Barber to Keynote 59th Annual February One Sit-In Celebration