sit-ins

Cultural  

1. A form of nonviolent protest, employed during the 1960s in the civil rights movement and later in the movement against the Vietnam War. In a sit-in, demonstrators occupy a place open to the public, such as a racially segregated (see segregation) lunch counter or bus station, and then refuse to leave. Sit-ins were designed to provoke arrest and thereby gain attention for the demonstrators' cause.

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The civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., defended such tactics as sit-ins in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”

Example Sentences

The sit-ins to desegregate restaurants and cafeterias that were now taking place across the South had originated in Greensboro.

From Literature

Every Sunday morning, our congregation would pray for the safety of our leaders, and for these courageous children and their families engaging in sit-ins and other direct forms of protest.

From Literature

The students at Bennett and A&T were instrumental to the sit-ins’ success.

From Literature

Following the king's address, the collective called for "peaceful sit-ins".

From Barron's

The movement behind nationwide protests sweeping Morocco, the GenZ 212 youth collective, called Monday for "peaceful sit-ins" to push its demands for reforms.

From Barron's