Left: Ayanna Najuma at the Katz Drug Store lunch counter in 1958. Inset: Najuma today

Shutterstock.com (background); Bettmann Archive/Getty Images (Katz Drug Store); Courtesy of Ayanna Najuma (Ayanna Najuma)

Article Options

Presentation View
Teaching Resources

Lexile® measure

Language

Sitting Down to Take a Stand

More than 65 years ago, a group of kids helped end segregation in restaurants in Oklahoma City. 

January 6, 2025
By Blair Rainsford and Nicole Tocco

As You Read, Think About: What are some qualities kids need to help bring about change?

On a hot August day in 1958, 7-year-old Ayanna Najuma and about a dozen other kids walked into the Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. They sat down at the lunch counter and tried to order, but the waitresses ignored them. The kids sat there for hours. No one would serve them for one reason: They were Black. 

The restaurant was one of many in the city that refused to serve Black people at the time. Ayanna and the other kids knew they wouldn’t be served. But they weren’t there to eat. They were taking a stand against injustice. They wanted to end segregation—the forced separation of people based on their skin color. The kids, who ranged in age from 6 to 17, were holding a type of protest called a sit-in.

“We said to each other, ‘We want a change. Why wait? Let’s do it now,’” Ayanna recalls.

It was a hot August day in 1958. Seven-year-old Ayanna Najuma walked into the Katz Drug Store in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. She was with a dozen other kids. They sat down at the lunch counter and tried to order. The waitresses ignored them. The kids sat there for hours. No one would serve them for one reason. They were Black.  

Many restaurants in the city refused to serve Black people at the time. Katz Drug Store was one of them. Ayanna and the other kids knew they wouldn’t be served. But they weren’t there to eat. They were taking a stand against injustice. They wanted to end segregation. That is the forced separation of people based on their skin color. The kids ranged in age from 6 to 17. They were holding a type of protest called a sit-in.

“We said to each other, ‘We want a change. Why wait? Let’s do it now,’” Ayanna recalls.

Troubled Times

Jim McMahon/Mapman®

When Ayanna was growing up, segregation was common, and legal, in many states, especially in the South. Black people weren’t allowed to attend the same schools, get treated in the same hospitals, or even use the same drinking fountains as White people. 

For kids like Ayanna, life with segregation was all they knew. But in 1958, while on a bus trip to New York City, Ayanna and her friends noticed that cities in the North were much more integrated. There were none of the “Whites Only” signs they were used to seeing back home. Black people and White people ate at the same restaurants and stayed at the same hotels.

The kids wanted the same way of life in Oklahoma City. An activist named Clara Luper would help them organize a peaceful protest in their hometown. Ayanna and her friends were about to join what became known as the civil rights movement—the long struggle to gain equal rights for Black Americans.

When Ayanna was growing up, segregation was common in many states. It was also legal. That was especially true in the South. Black people weren’t allowed to attend the same schools as White people. They couldn’t get treated in the same hospitals. They couldn’t even use the same drinking fountains. 

For kids like Ayanna, life with segregation was all they knew. But that changed in 1958. Ayanna and her friends took a bus trip to New York City. They noticed that cities in the North were much more integrated. Back home, they were used to seeing “Whites Only” signs. They didn’t see any of those signs in New York. Black people and White people ate at the same restaurants. They also stayed at the same hotels.

The kids wanted the same way of life in Oklahoma City. An activist named Clara Luper would help them organize a peaceful protest in their hometown. Ayanna and her friends were about to join what became known as the civil rights movement. That was the long struggle to gain equal rights for Black Americans.

Bettmann Archive/Getty Images

Ayanna Najuma at the Katz Drug Store lunch counter in 1958.

Kid Power

On the first day of the sit-in, the kids sat at the lunch counter until the restaurant closed for the night. No one took their order. When the kids returned the next day, the situation grew tense. Some White customers yelled at them, and others poured ketchup on them. Through it all, the kids remained peaceful and polite.

During the third day of the sit-in, the owners of the store agreed to start serving Black customers at the lunch counter.

“It was a big deal,” Ayanna recalls. “It was a slam dunk to be able to sit there and have a hamburger and Coke.”

Ayanna wasn’t done though. For six years, she and other young activists took part in sit-ins at other restaurants in Oklahoma. One by one, many of these restaurants became integrated. 

Finally, when Ayanna was 14, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. It banned segregation in public places throughout the U.S. 

Decades later, Ayanna is proud of the part she played in bringing about change.

“Even though I was little, my voice was just as important as everyone else’s voice,” she says.

The first day of the sit-in arrived. The kids sat at the lunch counter until the restaurant closed for the night. No one took their order. The kids returned the next day. The situation grew tense. Some White customers yelled at them. Others poured ketchup on them. Through it all, the kids remained peaceful and polite.

During the third day of the sit-in, the kids got good news. The owners of the store agreed to start serving Black customers at the lunch counter.

“It was a big deal,” Ayanna recalls. “It was a slam dunk to be able to sit there and have a hamburger and Coke.”

Ayanna wasn’t done though. For six years, she and other young activists took part in sit-ins at other restaurants in Oklahoma. One by one, many of these restaurants became integrated. 

Finally, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law. It banned segregation in public places throughout the U.S. By then, Ayanna was 14.

Decades later, Ayanna is proud of the part she played in bringing about change.

“Even though I was little, my voice was just as important as everyone else’s voice,” she says.

The Greensboro Four

The Granger Collection, New York

In February 1960, another sit-in captured the nation’s attention. Four Black college students staged a sit-in at the lunch counter at a store called Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina. Within a few days, the protest grew to include more than 1,000 people. Reporters from newspapers and TV stations arrived from across the country. After nearly six months, the Woolworth store in Greensboro finally integrated its lunch counter. The sit-in became one of the key events of the civil rights movement.

In February 1960, another sit-in captured the nation’s attention. Four Black college students staged a sit-in at the lunch counter at a store called Woolworth’s in Greensboro, North Carolina. Within a few days, the protest grew to include more than 1,000 people. Reporters from newspapers and TV stations arrived from across the country. After nearly six months, the Woolworth store in Greensboro finally integrated its lunch counter. The sit-in became one of the key events of the civil rights movement.

1. What details from the article support the idea that life in the 1950s was different for Black people in the North than it was in the South?

2. How did the second day of the sit-in at the Katz Drug Store differ from the first day?

3. What is the purpose of the sidebar, “The Greensboro Four”?

1. What details from the article support the idea that life in the 1950s was different for Black people in the North than it was in the South?

2. How did the second day of the sit-in at the Katz Drug Store differ from the first day?

3. What is the purpose of the sidebar, “The Greensboro Four”?

videos (2)
videos (2)
Skills Sheets (3)
Skills Sheets (3)
Skills Sheets (3)
Games (1)
TEACHER SUPPORT (1)
Leveled Articles (1)
Text-to-Speech