“There wasn't any fear, I just thought—this is your moment. Seize it!”
— Barbara Johns, 1979, remembering her role in the student strike of 1951
On the morning of April 23, 1951 several students forged written announcements of a school assembly, calling all classes to the auditorium. Teachers were then escorted from the auditorium. Instead of the principal, student Barbara Johns appeared on the stage and announced the strike. She asked the students to join with the organizing committee, a group of ten Moton students, in a strike to demand better facilities. The student body as a whole agreed to join them in the effort.