In 1963, the Durham School Board extended the desegregation of schools to elementary school students. Third-grader and her brother, Floyd Jr., were two of the first African-Americans to integrate North Durham Elementary School.
For some students, that act may have been exceptional, but for Charmaine, being the first African-American to do something was the norm in her family. Charmaine and . followed in the footsteps of their grandfather who served in America's first black artillery unit, and their father ., who was the first African-American to gain admission to UNC School of Law.
She has since gone on to build a successful career in media, establishing mass communication departments at Bennett College and North Carolina Central University.
She is also still active in , a planned community in Warren County that grew from her father's vision.
Host Frank Stasio talks to Charmaine McKissick-Melton, a professor of mass communication at North Carolina Central University, about her life and family.
