February One: The Greensboro Four (2003)

February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four is a documentary film which premiered on US television (Independent Lens, PBS) in 2003. Here is some basic information about it:

** Producer and director: Rebecca Cerese
** Writer: Daniel Blake Smith
** Narrator: Lesley Blair
** Run time: 57 minutes

The title of this film refers to the date – 1 February 1960 – when four young men from Greensboro, North Carolina, began a peaceful and non-violent action to promote civil rights in the Deep South. They wanted to demonstrate against racial discrimination in their town.

First, they crossed the railway track which divided the town into two parts. Then they entered the white part of town. Next, they went to the Woolworth Department Store where they bought a few things. African-Americans were allowed to buy things in this store.

Finally, they walked to the lunch counter and sat down. This moment was a milestone in the history of North Carolina and the Deep South. Because blacks were not allowed to sit at the lunch counter of Woolworth. The white staff were shocked and surprised. They did not know what to do. Something like this had never happened before.

The four young men asked politely to be served. They were not served. But they did not leave. They just sat there waiting to be served.

After a while a policeman showed up. He walked up and down behind the four young men. He tried to scare them, but he never touched them.

After a while, the manager found a way out of the crisis: he announced that the lunch counter was closed for the day. The four young men left.

The word got around very fast, among the black community and among the white community. The next day they went back again. This time there were more people in the store. Reporters showed up with their cameras.

Day by day the protest action continued. Soon it spread to other places in Greensboro and then to other towns in the South. The sit-ins went on for weeks and for months.

Finally, on 25 July 1960, the owners of Woolworth decided to throw in the towel. From now on, everyone was allowed to sit at the lunch counter, no matter what the colour of their skin was. It was a great victory for the Civil Rights movement.

In this film, the story of this episode is told and placed in a historical context. Archive footage is used to show us glimpses of what happened in the past. And several persons are interviewed, including three of the four young men who took the bold step back in 1960:

** Joseph McNeil (born 1942)
** Franklin McCain (1941-2014)
** Ezell Blair, Jr. (now known as Jibreel Khazan) (born 1941)

The fourth member of the group - David Richmond, who was born in 1941 - passed away in 1990. There are clips from an old interview with him.

In addition, we get to hear from two historians:

** William Henry Chafe
** Vincent Harding

On 1 February 2002, a large monument was dedicated at the campus of the college where the four young men studied in the 1960s.

In 2010 this documentary film was shown on PBS again in order to mark the 50-year anniversary of the sit-ins in 1960.

What do reviewers say about this film? On IMDb it has a rating of 75 per cent, which corresponds to (almost) four stars on Amazon.

On the US version of Amazon there are more than 30 reviews of this product. The average rating is 4.7 stars. Here are some of the headlines that you can see on Amazon:

“Exquisite documentary”

“Great first-hand account of this remarkable day in history”

“Amazing story of ordinary young men changing the world for the better”

“An impressive and thought-provoking must-see”

“Good original footage along with recent interviews from the original four”

“Great movie – an eye opener”

“This was a really good movie”

“Excellent film”

“Well done”

“Inspiring”

As you can see, the ratings are quite good. But if you ask me, they are not good enough. I want to go all the way to the top with this product. I think it deserves a rating of five stars.

PS. For more information, see the following books:

** Civilities and Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Black Struggle for Freedom by William Henry Chafe (1981)

** Picturing Greensboro: Four Decades of African-American Community by Otis L. Hairston (2007)

** Lunch Counter Sit-Ins: How Photographs Helped Foster Peaceful Civil Rights Protests by Danielle Smith-Llera (2018)

** The Sit-Ins: Protest and Legal Change in the Civil Rights Era by Christopher W. Smith (2018)

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 The Greensboro Four as they walk out of Woolworth Department store

at the end of the sit-in in February 1960

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The monument that was dedicated in February 2002

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