This is a history of our past demonstrating over 40 years of life-changing events that led to the Beloved Community Center history and struggle for racial justice.
On February 1st, 1960, a sit-in movement was initiated by four North Carolina A & T State University College students at a "white only" lunch counter at Woolworth Department Store.
Traditional displacement of the 1950s and 60s occurred through the direct removal of low-income families to make way for a highway or urban renewal project.
In 1961, marking the one year anniversary of the Greensboro Sit-In movement, a group of protesters began to protest the segregation of movie theaters.
Under the leadership of William Thomas, an A&T student involved in the Woolworth sit-ins, theater demonstrations, and other movements involved in Civil Rights founded the CORE (Congress of Racial Equality) chapter in Greensboro.
There was a joint effort between NAACP, CORE, and the American Friends Service Committee from 1962 through 1963 to come together for mass voter registration and education drives.
Beginning in November of 1962 in Greensboro, there were many arrests and demonstrations due to the rising movement of desegregation
In 1966 the grassroots Public Housing Organization Unit (United Neighborhood Improvement Team) was formed.
In the summer of 1968 GAPP (Greensboro Association of Poor People) was formed and became one of the most important grassroots organizations and sources of community activism.
In 1968, tenants in apartments owned by John Taylor off of English St. decided to organize around the conditions of the apartments. John Taylor was a prominent member of the community and did a lot of work around the social justice movement until it was found that he was a slum lord. Tenants protested and withheld payments to get repairs. John Taylor and his family moved away not soon after.
Following the death of Martin Luther King Jr. the city of Greensboro refused the Pulpit Forum (Black Ministerial Group) a parade permit to honor Dr. King after his slaying. North Carolina A&T students marched anyway.
In 1969, as a result of the Black Power movement, The Malcom X Liberation University was moved to Greensboro, NC in 1971. The University, which was led by Howard Fuller and organized in Durham, NC. It was a response to institutionalized racism in America. (http://library.uncg.edu/dp/crg/topicalessays/blackpowermovement.aspx)
In March of 1969, Nelson Johnson led the A&T Cafeteria Workers Strike as a way of bringing community and student concerns together. It proved to be a powerful moment in Greensboro’s black community organizing.The cafeteria workers were supported by A&T students, who refused to eat in the dining hall until the grievances were resolved.
On May 7 of 1969, the National Student Organization For Black Unity (SOBU) was founded at North Carolina A&T.
In May of 1969, two days after A&T student Willie Ernest Grimes had been killed, over 650 National Guard troops took over A&T campus.
The 1970 AAA Rent Strike was an action led by GAPP, whose housing efforts included advocating on behalf of people being evicted and around basic housing standards for the poor.
Individuals who worked Skillcraft Industries of The Blind, a sheltered workshop went on strike with the support of GAPP.
In March of 1970 a report entitled "Trouble in Greensboro" was released that was about an open meeting concerning the disturbances at Dudley High School and North Carolina A&T University.
Save Our Schools Campaign was a movement to protect African American Schools from being dissolved in desegregation cases.
Black citizens concerned with police brutality (BCCPB) in a People’s Court found the City of Greensboro and Greensboro Police Department guilty of misconduct.
In 1972, there were demonstrations held in Washington and around the world in support for African liberation struggles and against South African Apartheid. The organizing and planning for the demonstrations took place in Greensboro.
In 1976 there was mass labor organizing in textile mills.
On November 3, 1979 five demonstrators were killed, ten others were wounded,and numerous residents and other witnesses were traumatized by Klan and Nazi shootings and violence at a march by the Communist Workers Party against the Klan.
The Klan and Nazis responsible for the deaths and violence of November 3, 1979 were found not guilty in state court and at a later federal trial.
The NAACP Urban Crisis Committee Report addressed employment in city and county government. The report gave insight into where Greensboro stood among race in tv coverage, employment, promotional practices, etc.
Following the November 3, 1979 incident where five workers were killed and ten wounded at Morningside Homes by Klan and Nazi gunmen, there was an international march held. On February 2, 1980, Greensboro held a march against the Klan and Nazis. Thousands attended while the city of Greensboro presented many obstacles to stop the march.
In November of 1980 the North Carolina Advisory Committee conducted a study of race relations in Greensboro for the U.S Commission on Civil Rights.
Local NAACP and Grassroots Organizations marched against the Klan.
Before 1983 everybody ran at large. Because of this it was difficult to get blacks nominated and represented. The NAACP pushed for a district system of government so that there would be stronger chances of representation for the black community.
The Greensboro Police, Klan, and Nazi members were found guilty of negligence and wrongful death in federal civil court. The city of Greensboro paid the family of Dr. Michael Nathan $351, 000 in settlement but still admitted no guilt in the deaths of November 3, 1979. Funds from the civil trial were used to establish the Greensboro Justice Fund.
The City of Greensboro issued a parade permit to the KKK over the objection from the broader community by citing first amendment right's. The community of Greensboro held a large counter demonstration.
In 1987, the formation of a new public housing organization in the Greensboro area was formed. The organization was the Greensboro Area Poor Peoples Association (GAPPA).
In 1991, more than two thousand people marched against the reduction in health care and social services by the Guilford County Commission.
The Beloved Community Center (BCC) of Greensboro was established.
In 1995, the Kmart strike and community boycott began.
In the spring of 1995, The Greensboro Poor People's Organization had their third annual conference and came up with the idea of the Freedom Summer Project. The project was about bringing together parts of the community that are the most excluded and neglected. One of the activities from the project was the 1000 Black Man March. On September 23, 1995m the 1000 Black Man March took place. This march was a local kickoff to the Million Man March.
"A boycott is never an end within itself. It is merely a means to awaken a sense of shame within the oppressor but the end is reconciliation, the end is redemtion.... The aftermath of non-violence is reconciliation and the creation of a beloved community." ~ Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. "The Power of Nonviolence," June 1957
The April 4th Coalition organized a march from Greensboro to Raleigh in support of Kwame Cannon's freedom from two life sentences for burglary of less than $500.
Kwame Canon, in 1999 was paroled from prison after being there since 1986. "Kwame, as much as we love him and rejoice in his presence, is one of thousands of young black men and women who need to be returned to their communities and their families," says Rev. Nelson Johnson with the Faith Community Church in an article by Mark Roberts of WRAL in 1999.
In 1999 at a County School Board meeting, 17 protesting citizens from the North Carolina Racial Justice Network were arrested. They were protesting the redistricting issues in the community. Ervin Brisbon and Clarence Todman were in jail for over a week and fasted the entire time.
In 1999, the Education Unity Task Force was formed and gave rise to community dialogue on education.
In 2001, the Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Project (GTCRP) formed as a vehicle to seek truth in the murders of November 3, 1979 and to address stubborn problems related to race and economics in the community.
In 2004, there was the installation of the Greensboro Truth and Community Reconciliation Commission
In 2005, the City Council in a 6-3 vote along racial lines, voted to opose the Truth Process
On May 25, 2006 the Truth Commission issued its report at Bennett College.
In July of 2006, the BCC hosted a gathering of International Truth Commissions held at Bennett College and NC A&T.
In 2007, Yvonne Johnson became the first African American mayor of the city of Greensboro.
In June 2008, Jorge Cornell and other representatives of the Almighty Latin Kings and Queens Nation visited Beloved Community Center during one of their weekly community meetings. They expressed a desire to organize against police harassment and to implement a gang peace treaty in Greensboro. To see photos and read more, click "find out more".
Five street groups and two religious organizations sent representatives to a meeting in which a written agreement was made among the groups in attendance to join in peace, helping community projects and renouncing the initiation of violence upon each other
Tension at Smith High School was relieved by Jorge Cornell. What may have escalated into violence was resolved peacefully when Jorge and Rev. Johnson worked with the school's officials to understand student Damien Mebane's problems with being harassed, fought with, and suspended. Jorge was invited to continue to work with school officials to keep members of the ALKQN in school.
In 2009, Jorge Cornell decides to run for city council after conferring with trusted friends, including Rev. Johnson. He ran again in 2011.
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