When black students mounted roof to seek equality

“Seven African-American students, all studying on a predominantly white college campus in 1969, took to the roof of a classroom building. They called for equal treatment.  Instead, a call went out for the police….

“The decision to take over a Belmont Abbey campus building came amid unrest at home over the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement. The attempt to drive change led Belmont Abbey to dismiss the students 45 years ago and to leave the protest largely forgotten except in the minds of those for whom it was a seminal event in tumultuous times….”

— From “45 years ago, Abbey students issued a call for change” by Matthew Memrick in the Gaston Gazette (May 3)

h/t John Robinson for spotting this time capsule of a dramatic but obscure chapter in the career of community organizer Howard Fuller.

 

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