Student Defiance:
The desegregation ripple effect was coursing throughout America. The students now turned their attention to public facilities.
Woolworth's, Greensboro:
Above: The Greensboro Four
David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr and Joseph McNeil. These four men, who would be later known as the Greensboro Four, sat in a white part of a Woolworth's store on February 1st, 1960 and asked to be served while the staff refused to. The Greensboro Four were inspired by Martin Luther King Jr's "non-violence" protests and decided to do a sit-in as to attract media attention to black civil rights. The manager, Clarence Harris, asked them to leave but they refused. They sat for the whole day until closing time. The next day, more than 20 black students assisted with the sit-in. The white customers annoyed the black protesters. On the third day, 60 plus people came to the Woolworth's store. Slowly the number of people went up, until one day the number of people joining the sit-in was 300. The sit-ins proved to be of good cause, for other cities were joining in with the sit-in.
Freedom Rides:
The Freedom Rides were integrated groups of black and white people that traveled together on interstate buses in the hope that desegregation would kick in for these buses. The Freedom Riders were comprised of SNCC and CORE members. The very first Freedom Ride happened on the 4th of May 1961. 13 activists, 7 black and 6 white, caught an interstate bus from Washington D.C to New Orleans. These Freedom Rides, like the Montgomery Bus Protests, were very dangerous to participate in as there was racist police and mobs ready to attack, and sometimes the Freedom Riders were killed. The Freedom Rides inspired people to protest, persuaded the government to support black civil rights, and desegregated bus terminals.