Black students in Atlanta knew they had to win the Magnolia Room. The famous tea room in Rich's Department Store was known for its luncheons and bridal showers - for whites only. So they decided to plot a sit-in.
And once they got Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on board, it was on.
They figured if they could successfully target Rich's, the rest of Atlanta would soon follow. And as Look magazine said, "as goes Atlanta, so goes the South." So, on October 19, 1960, the sit-in commenced. And after they refused to leave, police arrested 52 of them - including Dr. King.
Soon enough, everyone made bail or had their charges dropped - except King. But King was held for violating his probation on a former arrest. It took his attorneys and then-presidential candidate John F. Kennedy to get him released.
But the strategy of inviting King to bring publicity and using the Magnolia Room as a site of resistance was successful. Only a few days later, 2,000 protesters came to participate, too. And that next year, the city's lunch counters were integrated.
Like many other activists of their time, and today, the Magnolia Room protesters combined strategy and cooperation efforts to make a difference in their community. Though we're no longer working to integrate lunch counters, why not apply that same strategy today?