A Gift from Greensboro

An illustrated poem about two best friends, one white and one black, in the 1970s–when eating together at a lunch counter on a lazy summer afternoon is no big deal.

A Gift from Greensboro is an elegy, a celebration of the magic of childhood friendship, and a meditation on growing up in the wake of the sit-ins that ushered in the Civil Rights Movement. Paired with eye-catching, layered illustrations, this poem recognizes that true friendship knows no boundaries and that love drives positive change. Read alongside Sit-In: How Four Friends Stood Up by Sitting Down by Andrea Davis Pinkney and Freedom on the Menu: The Greensboro Sit-Ins by Carole Boston Weatherford for a well-rounded lesson about a significant, igniting moment in our country’s civil rights history.