February One: The Story of the Greensboro Four (review)

February One is an intimate look at four North Carolina A+T State University freshmen, who integrated the all-white lunch counter at Woolworth's in Greensboro, North Carolina on February 1^st 1960. Using interviews, still photographs, archival footage, and dramatic reenactments, this documentary film illustrates the power of friendship and non-violent direct action, and demonstrates the impact of the media in changing public accommodation customs and laws in the South. Written by David Blake Smith and narrated by Lesley Blair, and in contrast to both Eyes of the Prize that covers the broader history of the movement, and studies of Martin Luther King, Jr. that focus on a single individual, the virtue of February One is that it tells the story of one moment - and an historically pivotal moment - in the long struggle of African Americans for freedom. It is also an in-depth look at an important event that changed the course of American history and a useful tool for high school and college teachers of post-1945 history courses.

February One begins by reminding its viewers that the modern civil rights movement had reached a standstill by 1960 after having made important strides during the 1950s with the passage of Brown v. Board of Education, the Montgomery bus boycott, and the integration of Little Rock's Central High School. The film then slowly introduces the Greensboro Four - Jibreel Khazan (formerly Ezell Blair, Jr.), Franklin McCain, David Richmond, and Joseph McNeil - and interprets the effects of their families, educations and experiences on their decision to challenge Jim Crow. Students will no doubt have heard of Rosa Parks and February One will expand and enrich their knowledge of other significant non-violent activists.

Interestingly, the film uses a series of dramatic reenactments to illustrate the four freshmen's decision-making processes during their evening dorm room discussions to wage a non-violent attack on segregation. These discussions culminated in their collective decision, after McNeil was denied service at the Greensboro Greyhound bus station upon his return from winter break in New York City, to sit-in at Greensboro's Woolworth's on February 1^st, 1960. While some viewers will find these reenactments to be contrived and melodramatic, they are a useful retrospective window into private conversations about segregation, especially for twenty-first century students who are just beginning to learn about the perils of crossing the color line.

From there, February One runs through the first five days of the sit-ins noting how the protest began with the Greensboro Four ready to endure whatever came their way and then with the help of the media grew into a social movement. Indeed, the impact of the media on the outcome of the Greensboro Four's decision to sit down at Woolworth's and ask to be served cannot be underestimated as it brought the eyes of the world upon them and spread the word of their protest to others who in turn also dedicated themselves to the cause. The film does a good job of highlighting how and why the numbers of activists participating, hostile whites opposing, and reporters covering the story swelled, not only in Greensboro, North Carolina, but also across the South.

Clips of an interview with historian William H. Chafe were particularly illuminating in demonstrating how through the Greensboro Four "a generation came alive" and "a movement was transformed" as well as a voiceover of a protestor stating that "That dime store was the birthplace of a whirlwind" lent varied voices to the Greensboro Four's first-hand accounts.

After the sit-ins, the Greensboro Four were labeled "radicals." Richmond, who stayed in Greensboro after college, withstood threats on his life, had difficulty finding jobs, suffered two failed marriages, and sadly turned to alcohol. He died in Greensboro on December 7^th 1990. Aside from this summation of Richmond's life, the film does not provide much information about...