The original content of Democracy Now! Headlines appears under the Creative
Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 License (United States). For more, including their other
shows and media, visit www.democracynow.org.
January 29, 2015

South Carolina Court Clears "Friendship Nine" for 1961 Lunch Counter Protest 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------


 
A South Carolina court has tossed the convictions of a group of
African-American civil rights activists known as the Friendship Nine who
were arrested for sitting at a whites-only lunch counter in 1961. Found
guilty of trespassing, they became the country's first demonstrators to
choose to serve jail time rather than pay a fine for sitting at an
all-white lunch counter, launching the "jail, no bail" strategy.
Clarence Graham was one of the nine who took part in the action.

Clarence Graham: "In 1961, when we were downtown, it wasn't for any
glory. We were not looking for any hero worship. We were simply 10
students who was tired of the status quo, tired of being treated like
second-class citizens, tired of being spat on, kicked, called the
N-word, drinking out of the colored water fountain. We got tired of
that."

Judge John C. Hayes III announced the decision to clear the men. Hayes
is the nephew of the judge who handed down the original sentence.

 

.