WCCB Charlotte s CW
February 24, 2021
CHARLOTTE Charlotte remained moderate and out of the spotlight of the Civil Rights Movement until 1965. Kelly Alexander, Jr, was just 17 years-old in 1965, and a student at the all black West Charlotte High School.
“Violence was always something that you read about in the newspapers or you saw on television somewhere else,” says State Representative Kelly Alexander, Jr.
His parents, along with so many other African Americans during the 1960’s, were in the midst of a major push for desegregation. Alexander’s father, Kelly Sr., led the North Carolina NAACP.
“He was traveling all the time all over the place especially in North Carolina,” says Alexander. His father visited mostly small communities urging black people to register to vote.