Last week I was in meetings in Greensboro, NC with over 60 other IV staff workers. We were talking about the history of Greensboro in regard to race relations and God's heart for reconciliation and for the poor.
It was a full week with lots to process. But a highlight of our time together was to have Dr. Franklin McCain come and speak to us. Dr. McCain was one of the Greensboro Four who started a sit-in at the local Woolworth lunch counter that was reserved for whites only. I believe he's the second from the left in the above picture.
His speech to us was full of grace and humility and courage and faith. It was captivating to have someone talk about an event that for me is ancient history in the first person. What Dr. McCain did along with the three other guys who participated in the sit-in was spark a nationwide movement that transformed our country.
He offered us a couple of wise words of advice that I thought would be good to pass along. First, when you feel the need to do something deep in your conscience, don't ever wait for the masses to go along with you. Second, never ask permission to start a revolution. Third, the facts don't matter if the dream is big enough.
These four guys first sat down at a segregated lunch counter on February 1, 1960. They weren't served until July 23. Notice that the person who wasn't allowed to serve them was black--I wonder where that guy is now, what he was thinking during this whole time.
Was Dr. McCain afraid about what would happen that first day they all went in to sit at the counter? "No," he says defiantly, "I was too angry to be afraid. Everyone around us was tired of being trampled on, but no one was doing anything about it."
Here's hoping that more Christian activists spark worldwide revolutions in our generation.
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