Baltimore BORN

On Thursday, February 4^th, the boys of Baltimore BORN went on their first field trip.  It was an amazing day, which will undoubtedly have a lasting impression on all who attended.  The trip was made possible by the wonderful staff at The Smithsonian National Museum of American History (NMAH) who invited our students to an exclusive opportunity for local students to meet and experience living history. The three surviving members of the Greensboro Four, Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair, Jr.), Franklin McCain, and Joseph McNeil participated in an oral history about their bold action that ignited student involvement in the Civil Rights Movement when they staged a sit-in at the Woolworth lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina on February 1, 1960. The four men were only freshman at North Carolina A&T University when they began the movement that would lead to the desegregation of that particular lunch counter and sparked a student movement that spread across the nation.

The program also featured an oral history by Christopher W. Wilson, Director of the Museum’s Program in African American Culture, excerpts from the Museum’s Historic Theatre programs, Sing for Freedom and the award winning Join the Student Sit Ins, and an opportunity for students to engage in conversation with the Greensboro activists. 

In addition the main portion of the program the boys also had the opportunity to partake in a mock sit-in and learn what it was like for the brave men and women who tolerated seemingly unbearable conditions to help grant all people of color their basic civil rights. 

Lastly, the museum staff gave the boys a special tour of the Star Spangled Banner exhibit, where they learned all about the significance of the American flag and all of its ties to Baltimore.  Like our boys, the flag was truly Baltimore born.

We owe a tremendous thank you to the staff at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, and all the school principals, teachers, and parents who understood the significance of this opportunity and allowed us to take the boys out of school on a Thursday.  Most of all we thank the boys of Baltimore BORN.  The boys, who are all 5^th graders, were the only students younger than high school invited to attend this program at the museum.  They were kind, thoughtful, considerate and brilliant and made the staff of Baltimore BORN very proud!