Franklin McCain: Flashbacks and Observations From A Civil Rights Trailblazer

On February 1, 1960, Franklin McCain and fellow North Carolina A & T students Ezell Blair Jr. (Jibreel Khazan), Joseph McNeil and David Richmond – now known as the Greensboro Four – sat down at a whites-only lunch counter at F. W. Woolworth’s. Refused service, they returned daily with increasing numbers of supporters and sparked a movement. Award-winning filmmaker Steve Crump commemorates the 60th anniversary of the first sit-ins in Greensboro by training his lens on the life and legacy of civil rights activist Franklin McCain.

Franklin McCain: Flashbacks and Observations from a Civil Rights Trailblazer focuses on McCain and a movement that helped change America. Join the Gantt Center and the filmmaker on Wednesday, February 5 for the documentary premiere and discussion of his newest work. This event is free, however, an RSVP is required.

The documentary will air on WBTV Bounce February 27 at 7 pm.

Please note: To receive discounted parking, please park in the Duke Energy garage (101 W. Stonewall Street entrance) or The Green garage (435 S. Tryon Street).

This event is made possible by WBTV, Arts & Science Council and the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts + Culture. 

Steve Crump is an award-winning African-American journalist, documentary film producer, and television reporter for WBTV. A native of Louisville, Kentucky, he first joined WBTV in 1984. He left the station after three years, but returned in 1989.

Crump has been described as the station's institutional memory, having reported on many of the major events that shaped modern Charlotte, but may be more widely known for his Emmy® Award winning documentaries with subjects ranging from Apartheid in South Africa to civil rights in the American South. He has also garnered a number of other awards including four National Headliner Awards, the Gabriel Award, and more than a dozen first-place honors from the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ). In 2016, NABJ named him their "Journalist of the Year."