Kathy Manning: “This Black History Month, I am highlighting the long and rich history of Bennett College, an all-woman HBCU in my…”

“This Black History Month, I am highlighting the long and rich history of Bennett College, an all-woman HBCU in my hometown, Greensboro, North Carolina. For over 150 years, Bennett College has been a beacon of social justice in the South. In the 1930s, the Bennett Belles protested racism in the film industry with protests at our local Carolina Theatre. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Bennett Belles played a key role in the civil rights movement. In 1958, when Martin Luther King, Jr., visited Greensboro and struggled to find a place to speak, Bennett College president, Willa B. Player, gave him a stage. She said: ``Bennett College is a liberal arts college where `freedom rings,' so King can speak here.'' Two years after Dr. King spoke on campus, the Bennett Belles staged a sit-in at the segregated Woolworth's lunch counter with The Greensboro Four. Their actions sparked a nationwide sit-in movement that forever changed the course of history. Today, Bennett College students and alumni continue to be changemakers. I am proud to recognize the immense contributions of the Bennett Belles this Black History Month. ____________________”