Therefore, King and a
number of his supporters formed the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference as an organization to spread these ideas and to
provide help to any community which became involved in massive,
nonviolent resistance protests.
On February 1, 1960, four Negro students from the
Agricultural and Technical College in Greensboro,
North Carolina, entered a Woolworth's variety store
and purchased several items. Then, they sat down at its lunch
counter, which served whites only. When they were refused
service, they took out their textbooks and began to do their
homework. This protest immediately made local news. The next day,
they were joined by a large number of fellow students.
In a matter of weeks, student sit-ins were occurring at
segregated lunch counters all across the South. College and high
school students by the thousands joined the Civil Rights
Movement. These students felt the need to form their own
organization to mobilize and facilitate the spontaneous
demonstrations which were springing up everywhere. This resulted
in the formation of the Student Non-Violent Coordinating
Committee.
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