February 3, 2020 – The Charlotte Hornets today announced that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina will serve as the presenting partner of the team’s Black History Month efforts this season, which will include various events and tributes
The highlight of the month will take place on Saturday, February 22, when the organization will host a community luncheon and panel discussion commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Greensboro Four’s historic sit-ins and recognize the group’s impact during halftime of the team’s game against the Brooklyn Nets. The panel, which will examine how one person, or a group of people, can impact change, is scheduled to include Jibreel Khazan, one of the two surviving members of the Greensboro Four; U.S. Rep. Alma Adams, one of only two African-American women to represent North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives; Chief Justice Henry Frye Sr., the first African American elected to the North Carolina General Assembly in the 20th century and the first African American to sit on the North Carolina Supreme Court; and Damion Thomas, curator of sports at the National Museum of African American History and Culture. The panel will be moderated by Sandra Hughes, who became the first African-American woman to host a daily talk show in Greensboro in 1974 and the first African-American woman in the Southeast to host the nationally-syndicated “PM Magazine” in 1978.
In addition, the February 22 game will also be designated as HBCU Night, and will include an HBCU college fair in the afternoon, an HBCU alumni mixer prior to the game and discounted tickets to the game for HBCU students and alumni.
“Black History Month recognizes an important part of our country’s history, and we are proud this year to commemorate the role of the Greensboro Four on the 60th anniversary of their sit-ins,” said Hornets President & Vice Chairman Fred Whitfield. “Growing up in Greensboro, I learned first-hand the impact they had on the city, which truly influenced the civil rights movement throughout the country. We look forward to a great celebration of Black History Month and thank our friends from Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina for their support.”
For each of the four Hornets home games in February, fans will be invited to share their thoughts about Black History Month on an interactive wall on Spectrum Center’s main concourse, while the Ally Community Corner outside section 112 will feature nonprofit groups with ties to black history, such as the International Civil Rights Center & Museum, Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts & Culture and Levine Museum of the New South. Special-edition Black History Month T-shirts and commemorative Greensboro Four pins will be on sale in the Main Lobby.
Additional Black History Month events include Hornets players visiting the Harvey B. Gantt Center for African-American Arts & Culture with local middle school students on February 7, as well as a February 5 bus trip to Greensboro for Hornets staff members to visit the International Civil Rights Center & Museum and attend the Greensboro Swarm game that night.