Plaza dedicated to Civil Rights legend

By Logan Langlois NASHVILLE, TN — Music City rolled out the red carpet for local icon Diane Nash in celebration of her courage and accomplishments as a pioneering figure in the Civil Rights Movement and the dedication of the Diane Nash Metro Plaza. While attending Fisk University, Nash led several non-violent protests and lunch counter sit-ins throughout Nashville. Diane Nash’s accomplishments include the desegregation of six lunch counters in stores around the city. It was around this time Nash rose to prominence as a leader and strategist in the student wing of the Civil Rights movement. Following the tragic bombing of civil rights leader Z. Alexander Looby’s house, Nash courageously led a group of students on a historic march up to the Nashville courthouse. It was on these steps that she confronted then-Mayor Ben West on April 19, 1960, by asking “Do you feel it is wrong to discriminate against a person solely on the basis of their race or color?”& To which he responded, “Yes.”& Steering Committee member and banquet co-chair Dr. Phyllis Qualls said this was captured by several news outlets, and four weeks later lunch counters in Nashville were desegregated.& Later, Nash would become a member of...