May 1, 2024

2024 Gala Press Release 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: John L. Swaine
336-274-9199
[email protected]

INTERNATIONAL CIVIL RIGHTS CENTER & MUSEUM ANNOUNCES
SIX HONOREES FOR THE 2024 ANNUAL GALA 

(Honorees: U.S. Congressman; Kweisi Mfume, The Honorable William “Bill” V. Bell, Heather Booth, The Honorable Dorothy Kendall "Dot" Kearns, County Commissioner; Frankie T. Jones, Jr., and Yvonne Lyons Cooper-Revell)

     GREENSBORO, N.C. (May 1, 2024) — The International Civil Rights Center & Museum will mark the 64th Anniversary of the successful conclusion of the Greensboro civil rights sit-ins on July 20, 2024, at its annual fundraising Gala at the Koury Convention Center. At this, the Civil Rights Museum’s most important annual commemorative event, six significant contributors to civil and human rights will be honored. 

     This year also marks the 70th Anniversary of the Supreme Court’s landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, when American civil rights lawyer, Thurgood Marshall successfully argued that state-sanctioned segregation of public schools violates the 14th Amendment of the Constitution. Racial segregation in public schools was ruled inherently unequal no matter what might have been the conditions of the schools or quality of the programs. In recognition of this transformative decision, the ICRCM has titled the upcoming Gala, “The Road to Equality.” 

     Prior to the 6 p.m. awards program and banquet, media representatives are invited to take part in a 2 p.m. press conference on July 20 at the Museum, located at 134 South Elm Street, to obtain additional information, interviews, and photos of award recipients and Museum officials.

     Reserve your seats today.

     Representatives of the news media are required to provide credentials for the Gala. Registration must be requested in advance by email to [email protected], including name, news outlet, and contact telephone number. 

About the Sit-In Movement

     The Sit-In Movement began at the F.W. Woolworth's store on Feb. 1, 1960, when four N.C. A&T students — David Richmond, Franklin McCain, Ezell Blair Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), and Joseph McNeil — requested and were refused service at the whites-only lunch counter. That lunch counter and its seats have been preserved in their original location as the iconic core of the Civil Rights Museum. 

     Almost immediately in 1960, the direct-action sit-in tactic spread across the nation, and it has been a method of peaceful protest against injustice ever since. As the saying now goes, “They took a seat to make a stand.” 

     The International Civil Rights Center & Museum attracts visitors from across the globe to explore the struggle for racial justice and human equality. The acclaimed tours and restored Woolworth’s landmark were recently recognized as one of the top 10 major sites on the U.S. Civil Rights Trail. 

     For more information, visit www.sitinmovement.org.