Belles Of Liberty was researched and written by Dr. Linda Beatrice Brown.
When people think about the Greensboro sit-ins in 1960, they focus on the men students from A&T. That is how the story has always been told. What has been left out or changed is that the women students from Bennett College for Women were the ones who planned and organized the protests.

NOTE: Dr. B. Brown Is Dr. Willa B. Playa's niece. Dr. Player was the first African American woman to become president of a four-year, fully accredited liberal arts college when she took the position at Bennett College in Greensboro, North Carolina. From 1955 to 1966,
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Description: The historic Greensboro, North Carolina lunch counter Sit-in on February 1, 1960 is one of the most well known incidents in Civil Rights history. This singular event was universally credited to four young men from North Carolina A&T State University.

Significantly, the integration of public accommodations of that city and many cities followed. Belles of Liberty: Gender, Bennett College and the Civil Rights Movement recalls a more complete story, illuminating what historians overlooked: that the first Sit-in in Greensboro was carefully planned on Bennett College's campus, and without hundreds of women who sat down, marched and were incarcerated from 1960 to 1963, the Sit-in effort and subsequent desegregation of Greensboro and even other cities, might not have succeeded.

Source: Book Dust Jacket
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About the Author
"Linda Beatrice Brown is an African American author and educator. She was born in Akron, Ohio and went to college in North Carolina at Bennett College For Women in Greensboro, NC.

While in North Carolina, she won several awards for her writing in both fiction and nonfiction. Brown has published many books including Belles of Liberty, Black Angels, Crossing Over Jordan and The Long Walk.

The genres and styles of writing in which she wrote include fiction, nonfiction, playwriting and poetry. Many of her works are centered on the Civil Rights Movement and the struggles that can be rooted back to slavery during the time of the American Civil War."

Photograph portrait of Dr. Brown, by Kenneth Ferriera, News & Record news article by Carl Wilson Aug 15, 2021
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Linda Beatrice Brown: Battling Racism as an Author, Educator and Activist

From the Meet the 7 Over Seventy 2021 honorees series
News & Observer / Carl Wilson Aug 15, 2021

Literature has always been a big part part of Linda Beatrice Brown’s life.

“I’m from a family that is kind of bookish. Both of my older sisters were habitual readers. They introduced me to classical literature like ‘Wuthering Heights’ and ‘Little Women.’ We would share ideas about these books,” Brown said.

By age 14, Brown was doing her own writing. She went on to get college degrees in English and French literature. That was the start of a life as a writer who authored books on the African American experience and Civil Rights.

It was during her time as a student at Bennett College in the 1960s that she became passionate about anti-racism. Her father was a Civil Rights activist, and she participated in the Greensboro's 1960 sit-ins to desegregate lunch counters.

“It really started me on a trajectory of speaking out and writing about the evils of racism,” Brown said.

Some of her books include "Rainbow ‘Roun Mah Shoulder," "Crossing Over Jordan" and "Black Angels."

After getting a PhD in African-American literature and creative writing, she became an assistant professor of literature at UNCG and Guilford College before returning to her alma mater of Bennett College to take a position as a Willa B. Player Distinguished Professor of the Humanities.

While at Bennett, Brown penned and produced three plays for Bennett College Reader’s Theater including "Black Hands, White Marble," a play about sculptor Edmonia Lewis. The play was later performed at the Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem and UNCG.

Throughout her career, Brown has continued to advocate for civil rights. She said that even though she was not on the “front lines” of activism, she sees her role as a writer and educator as bringing clarity to social justice.

“I really do believe one way to change people is to bring them inside information,” Brown said.

She has delivered many lectures on Black history, taught seminars on the Black experience in America, participated on committees for racial justice and reconciliation and led walking tours of historic Civil Rights sites.

"She has been an incredible agent for change and a significant role model for so very many in our community," said Gail LeBauer, who nominated Brown for the 7 Over Seventy award.

Brown is also known for her roles at Holy Trinity Episcopal Church, where she served on a leadership team to facilitate anti-racism consciousness.

She is also known for her singing and has performed with the Holy Trinity’s choir and the Spiritual Renaissance Singers, a choral group that performs concerts of African American Spirituals.

“It’s a part of my life that allows me to express my faith,” Brown said.

LeBauer considers Brown a servant leader. Brown said her faith and advocacy of social justice are intertwined.

“My work with anti-racism is essentially a spiritual calling and one of the things I think I was put on the planet to do,” Brown said.

Brown continues to write, having recently finished a collection of poetry she began last year during the pandemic. She plans to teach a class on Hildegard of Bingen and lead an anti-racist retreat.

“I’ll probably keep teaching until I can’t do it anymore,” Brown said with a laugh.
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