Directorial tricks lessen the impact of this film assessing a key moment in the US civil rights struggle
This 53-minute documentary spotlights an important milestone during the 1960s
American civil rights movement that has lost none of its significance. On 31 January 1961, a group of African American students staged a sit-in at a segregated lunch counter at McGrory’s, a store in Rock Hill, South Carolina. In an act of defiance, the young men, who attended the nearby Friendship Junior College, proceeded to order food. Refused service and asked to leave, the men remained until they were arrested for trespassing.
What they did after their arrest was even more significant. Out of the 10 students who were arrested, nine refused to post bail and instead served their 30-day sentences. This was the relatively new “jail, no bail” method of resistance. Though enduring hard
Labour and solitary confinement in jail, the men hoped to lessen the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s financial burden of paying bail for
protesters.