Joseph McNeil, who helped sparked the sit-in movement at the ‘Whites Only’ Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, dies at 83

Greensoro, North Carolina – His university said that Joseph McNeel, a student of the four universities of North Carolina, who helped their civil rights protests throughout the south. It was 83.

McKenil, who later became a general of stars, was one of four new students in North Carolina A.& T State University in Greensbleo who sat at the local “eggs only” on February 1, 1960. Black service was rejected from service and refused to give up their seats even when the store manager and the police urged them to move forward.

Data from North Carolina& T and the family did not give the issue of death or where he died. McNeel was living in New York.

The Black University historically said that McNeel had faced recent health challenges, but it was still able to attend the eighty -sixth anniversary of the sit -in this year in Greensburu.

McNeel’s death means that Jibril Khazan – formerly Iselle Blair Junior – is now the only remaining member in the four. Franklin McCain died in 2014 and David Richmond in 1990.

“We were very serious, and the issue that we gathered behind us was a very serious issue because it represents years of suffering, lack of respect and insult,” McNeel said in the Associated Press story on the fiftieth anniversary of sitting and the opening of the International Civil Law Center. & Museum on the old Woolworth store. “The separation of the evil thing that needs attention was.”

Joseph McKenil speaks during the AFL-CIO conference in Greensburu, North Carolina, January 16, 2010.

AP Photo/Lynn Hey, File

On the first day of a sit -in, the four youths remained until the store was closed. More demonstrators join the next day and the following days, which led to at least 1,000 by the fifth day. Within weeks, SISS were launched in more than 50 cities in nine states. Wallworth counter in Greensburu – about 75 miles (120 km) west of Rally – was stripped within six months.

McNeel and his colleagues inspired a nation with their brave protests, and embodied them strongly the idea that young people can change the world. His leadership and an example aSchool Adviser James Martin said in a press release.& T university campus.

The Greensboro sit -in also led to the formation of the non -students coordination committee, which has become a major part of the direct civil rights movement for students. The demonstrations between 1960 and 1965 assisted in the issuance of the 1964 Civil Rights Law and the 1965 voting law.

Earl Jones, co -founder of the museum on Thursday, said McKenil and the participants in the sit -in leave a legacy of non -violent protests “strengthening shares, social justice, social change in America and all over the world.”

Students decided to behave when McNeel returned to school on a bus from New York – and the racist atmosphere became more repressive in the south to which he went, according to the AP story in 2010.

The voltage on the first day was carefully planned, including the purchase of school supplies and hygiene tools and maintaining receipts to show the lunch meter was the only part of the store where the apartheid is still prevailing.

Joseph A. McKenil in the Willington coast was a member of the training officers in A.& T. He retired as a gym from stars from the stars of the Air Force reserves in 2001 and also worked as an investment banker. McNeil was honored in Wilmengton with a historical mark on a street slide named after him. The head of the footnote at the time, Kamala Harris, sat in a section of the lunch meter, which is still intact inside the museum in 2021. Another part is in Smithsonian.

McNeel’s family said that his life will be announced separately.

His son Joseph McNeel Junior said in the family statement: “The legacy of McNeel is a testament to the strength of courage and condemnation.” “It will not be forgotten on the movement of civil rights and its service to the nation.”

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