(704) 599-9810 | Worship Sundays @ 10:55 a.m.
(704) 599-9810 | Worship Sundays @ 10:55 a.m.
Oct 16, 2025
by Alix Felsing
We went to Greensboro to learn more about the sit-in that desegregated the Woolworth lunch counter in 1960. We returned with new perspectives, and so much more.
Nearly three dozen people made the Oct. 4 pilgrimage, most by bus, to the International Civil Rights Center & Museum in Greensboro. Holy Covenant’s Racial Justice and Equity Team sponsored the trip and arranged for a tour of the museum, which includes the original lunch counter and is housed in the former Woolworth building.
“I was deeply moved by the conviction and intentional bravery of the students—especially the freshmen,” RJE member Ann Hooper wrote when asked for her initial reflections. “Would I have had that kind of courage at their age? Do I now? That was the question our small group of four kept returning to on the bus.”
It is one thing to know that the “Greensboro Four”—freshmen at what was then called the Agricultural & Technical College of North Carolina—staged a sit-in that led to desegregated restaurants in Greensboro. It’s another to realize that the women of nearby Bennett College did the planning, the sit-in lasted for months, the sit-in expanded as students took turns spelling each other amid the ugly backlash, and that high-school students stepped in to continue the sit-in during the summer when the college students went home.
The experience “made me think about what all those before us endured and how we should honor them more,” RJE member Terrence Hayes wrote. “But it also made me consider and fear the ground we are losing today, right now, on those gains.”
The museum placed all of this in the turbulent and violent context of the Civil Rights era. One wall was full of mug shots of the people—Black and White, men and women—who were arrested for demonstrating for equal rights. Another wall listed dozens of names of people who were murdered for registering people to vote, and for supporting people who could not speak out.
It meant a lot to RJE member Anne Hayes to be surrounded by people who want to learn and grow, and who want to support one another during this journey.
“The time was troubling as well,” she wrote. “Being reminded of and learning anew the atrocities of our past, and noting that we remain as a society STILL facing ongoing acts of racism and hatred, was scary, angering and filled with waves of sadness.”
From the museum, we visited the campus of N.C. A&T State University to see the February One monument honoring Ezell Blair Jr., Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil and David Richmond. We stopped at Bennett College to get a glimpse of where the sit-in plans were made. We drove past the Magnolia House as we began our way home. Known as the Magnolia Hotel, it was listed in the Green Book as a safe place for Black travelers to stay and is one of only four remaining Green Book sites in North Carolina.
We returned to Charlotte in awe of the planning, perseverance and bravery that went into Civil Rights actions that made our world more equitable amid horrific cruelty and violence. We returned grateful for the fellowship that strengthened our friendships and our community on this journey. And we returned asking ourselves what’s next, and praying for courage to continue this work.
“What continues to weigh on me is how the daily ‘noise’ often drowns out the ongoing injustices faced by marginalized communities,” Hooper wrote. “So much of our history remains untold or ignored. As white people, we have a responsibility to learn it, honor it, speak it, and fight for full equality. Until prejudice and discrimination are eradicated, true progress will remain out of reach.”
The RJ&E Ministry at Holy Covenant UCC helps our church “seek justice” through learning, dialogue, and action. Grounded in faith and guided by Isaiah 1:17, the team cultivates inclusion, awareness, and advocacy—creating spaces for courageous conversation, anti-racism education, and public witness in Charlotte and beyond.
RJ&E members coordinate learning opportunities (like this Greensboro pilgrimage), host discussions and book studies, uplift community partners, and invite the congregation into concrete steps toward equity and reconciliation. Their work strengthens our church’s call to radical welcome and collective liberation. Do you want to get involved:
New hearts and hands are always welcome as we continue learning, listening, and acting for justice together.
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