Brothers Don and Robert Winston spoke about their experiences as activists in the 1960s Civil Rights Movement as part of a Living History program in Cedro Lounge Sunday night. The Winston brothers were flown to Stanford to participate in the program, the brainchild of Residential Education.

Don Winston spoke about his experience as a college freshman in Atlanta in 1968 when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated, while Robert discussed his participation as one of the leaders of the Howard High School student sit-in at a white lunch counter in Chattanooga, Tennessee in 1960.

“We wanted to have a Martin Luther King-spirited event dealing with racial and cultural issues,” said senior Mark Grimaldi, a residential assistant in Cedro. “Having people come talk about their experiences seemed like the coolest option.”

Don Winston said that he remembers the evening of the assassination vividly.

“There was a talent show at one of the fraternities scheduled for that night so we were waiting around to go to that when there was a news flash saying that King had been shot,” he said. “Everyone in our dorm was pretty much frozen. We were shocked that something so drastic could happen.”

Don Winston attended Clark Atlanta University, home to five historically black colleges and to approximately 1,500 students. Many students felt a need to respond somehow to King’s assassination.

“We were emotional and felt we needed to do something,” Don said. “Some people wanted to go tear up the town, but Dr. Benjamin Mays, the president of Morehouse College, called the student leaders from the five colleges together and talked to them about leadership.”

He described the mixture of chaos and calm that night, recalling scenes of people milling in the streets and student leaders using megaphones urging people not to riot.

“We went to the talent show to seek some direction and to see what we could do at that time,” Don Winston said.

Before the funeral, King’s body lay in state at Spelman College. Don Winston viewed the dead civil rights leader three times before the lines became unbearably long. He remembered taking pictures and said he foolishly sold them.

“I had never seen so many people together as during King’s funeral,” he said. “The feeling was to keep Atlanta peaceful and to respect the dream.”

Robert Winston spoke about his experiences as one of the leaders of a Chattanooga, Tennessee high school student sit-in in 1960. Starting Feb. 19, students from Howard High School occupied all of the stools at a white lunch counter in a downtown store. The sit-in continued for several days, with increasing numbers of white and black people showing up each day. Eventually fire hoses —which were aimed at both races — were used to disperse the mob.

“We had read about demonstrations in colleges so decided we could do something,” Robert Winston said. “We were far beyond our years.”

The students recognized the importance of their protest’s nonviolent nature, holding meetings to discuss guidelines for the sit-in. Robert Winston emphasized the importance of the 1960s demonstrations.

“The demonstrations didn’t just make things better for me,” he said. “They made it better for everyone.”

He noted the changes that have occurred but stressed that there is always more work to be done.

“I tell my sons, ‘You don’t know how tough it was, you don’t know how good you have it,’” Robert Winston said.

“I believe you cannot separate people and expect them to be loyal to a country,” he added. “Sometimes we have to be true to ourselves and stand up for what we believe but also have to be prepared to accept the consequences.”