Clara Luper glared at the white man standing in front of her. Side-stepping him, she led the 13 members of the NAACP Youth Council to the segregated lunch counter of Katz drugstore in downtown Oklahoma City.
One of the members was her daughter, who was only 8 years old.
The group sat down and ordered 13 Cokes but were denied service. White patrons tried intimidating them — coughing in their faces, jeering, calling them names — but Luper and the children stayed seated.
Luper’s sit-in occurred a full year and a half before the historic 1960 Greensboro sit-ins. She led the sit-in that would inspire protests seen throughout the Civil Rights Movement.
Luper and NAACP’s Youth Council successfully desegregated the drugstore, but they didn’t stop there. NAACP’s Youth Council continued leading sit-ins. Luper herself led numerous protest efforts, getting arrested 26 times and integrating hundreds of “white only” spaces.
Luper reminds us that even if our liberation efforts aren’t recognized on a national level it doesn’t mean we’re not making a difference. We must keep doing the work for the greater good of our community.