CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — In the spring of 1963, a prominent civil rights leader led dozens of protesters on a four-mile march from a predominantly African-American college campus to the center of Charlotte’s downtown.Dr. Reginald Hawkins warned city leaders that if something wasn’t done to end segregation, future marches might not be so peacefulNearly two weeks later, civil rights and white business leaders quietly joined forces to desegregate the city’s upscale restaurants and hotels. In a simple but powerful gesture, they ate lunch together in the restaurants, peacefully opening the door to integration.The May 29, 1963, lunch was a turning point in Charlotte’s emergence as a leading New South city. It contrasted sharply with the massive resistance seen in other Southern cities, such as Birmingham, Ala., where the police chief that same month turned fire hoses and dogs on young protesters.“The city’s leadership recognized that there was a need to make necessary changes, but they did not want the violence that happened in other communities to happen here,” said Willie Ratchford, executive director of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee.That lunch is being remembered this month with a series of events.