{"id":295,"featured":0,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:32:50","latitude":30.723130886913253334569162689149379730224609375,"longitude":-95.5517220497131489764797152020037174224853515625,"title":"HA-YOU Movement","subtitle":"Civil Rights movement in Huntsville, Texas","fullsize":"https://easttexashistory.org/files/fullsize/1e3c17b5dcefaded102ba3b538bfd93d.jpg","address":"Texan Café\r\n1120 Sam Houston Ave, Huntsville, TX 77340","all_locations":[],"zoom":17,"creator":["Morgan R. Knesek"],"description":"America, during the 1960’s, was in a place where there was much hate for those of different skin colors, thus there was much room for change. The issue of segregation had swept the nation, and consequently, the Civil Rights Act was passed in 1964. In an attempt to end segregation, this act stated that there would be no more segregated facilities in the United States; however, not every town in the deep south abided by this law and implemented it into their communities. To combat this injustice, Dr. Martin Luther King (MLK) led a non-violent protest march, in the summer of 1965. This march went from Selma, Alabama to Montgomery, Alabama and lasted five days and 54-miles. Dr. MLK's leadership and initiative inspired young people from Huntsville, Tx to do likewise and take non-violent action to enact change in their community. The young leaders accomplished this through the creation and implementation of the Huntsville Action For Youth, HA-YOU (pronounced “hey, you”), organization’s nine day movement during the summer of 1965.
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\r\nThe HA-YOU organization was a civil rights activist group. It was “led by high school students” and was “[affiliated] with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC),” whose first president was Dr. MLK. MLK was inspiring students to want to make an impact in their communities. To entice further change, MLK sent people from the SCLC to Huntsville “to see if anyone wanted to stand up and make a difference,” and Milford Hawkins was one of the Huntsville citizens that answered MLK’s call to action. Milford Hawkins, a teenager in Huntsville at the time, got involved with HA-YOU because he “heard Martin Luther King was trying to make a change and open doors”. According to Linda Broussard, another Huntsville resident that was a part of the movement, not everyone in the black community was proud of the members of HA-YOU. Many of the parents and other kids in the community “said [they] were bad kids” and that “[their] parents did not raise [them] right” to criticize their involvement with activism. However, the HA-YOU organization stuck together and powered through because “[they] knew what needed to be done and what [they] needed to do” even though they also were aware “that it could be dangerous”. The HA-YOU movement’s main goals were to end the color line at Life Theatre in Huntsville on Sunday, and protest the on-going, post-Civil Rights Act segregation at the Texan Café on Monday. In the end, the movement consisted of nine days of racial confrontation; however, the impact of their actions continues on today. [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
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\r\nSunday, the first day of the movement, began at Life Theatre. Linda Broussard saw a need for change at the theatre because African Americans “couldn’t sit where [they] wanted to sit” inside. The segregation at the theatre restricted negroes to having to sit upstairs inside the theatre, while white citizens could be seated in the bottom rows. HA-YOU determined that a “stand-in” tactic would be the best form of protest for this situation. This approach consisted of a person in the movement standing in line for a ticket, and if they were refused the ticket, they would walk to the back of the line, ready to repeat the process until someone was allowed to purchase a ticket. This “stand-in” tactic was beneficial because it helped to “avoid arrests for obstructing sidewalk traffic”. After about 15 minutes of this process and a few phone calls later, the members of HA-YOU had broken the color line and were sold tickets inside. Their success at the Life Theatre gave them confidence to take on the Texan Café that same day instead of their original plan for Monday. Linda Broussard described the racial issue at this restaurant and the Raven Café as how “[they would see people sitting in the restaurants eating, but [they, themselves] couldn’t go in” and this was confusing and seemed unfair to her. Because “Dr King said make a change,” Linda, Milford, and the other members of HA-YOU had the determination that they could face the racism head on at these restaurants and do something about it. When the HA-YOU organization arrived at the Texan Café, the manager would not let them inside. The group consequently began singing outside while a line of demonstrators filed outside their door. Linda Broussard explained that “[the manager or employee] would turn one of us down… and that person would go to the end of the line, and the next person would come to the door and ask to be let in,” similar to their tactic at the movie theatre. After 30 minutes of being refused at the Texan Café, HA-YOU decided to march down to the Raven Café and try their luck there. Not surprisingly, they were also refused admittance at the Raven Café, so after some singing, they marched back to the Texan Café to try again. They were still locked outside, consequently, they continued on with more songs. The attitude of the town had become increasingly abusive and one man rushed the demonstrators with a knife and hit a HA-YOU member in the head with the butt of the knife. A female member of the organization also had a cigarette butt flicked into her hair. No arrests were made this day, and there was verbal abuse from the town directed towards the demonstrators. Eventually, the HA-YOU members marched back to their headquarters and had a meeting to discuss the day’s events and their plans for the next day. [6] [7] [8] [9] [10]
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\r\nOn the second day, Monday afternoon, six members of HA-YOU went into the Texan Café and ordered two cups of coffee and one coke. After receiving their check and seeing that they were over charged, they refused to pay, but continued to be seated. Eventually, the rest of the HA-YOU movement arrived outside the café and sang. The police also made their way to the café and arrested the youngsters for refusing to pay their bill. Kermit Davison later went back to the café to pay their bill and when he saw that the youngsters had been overcharged, he decided not to arrest them. A crowd assembled outside of the courthouse, where the six young members had been taken from the café. In the crowd, Kim McMurray, associate editor of the Huntsville Pictorial, was punched by Buster Moore, a rancher, after taking photos of the demonstrators and the white folks yelling at them. The Sheriff of Walker County was near this action as it took place, but he was quoted as being “too busy to arrest Moore” for his violent actions. The police stood and watched as seven or eight white people cursed at the HA-YOU members. News of the attack of McMurray made it into newspapers across Texas. [11]
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\r\nOn Tuesday, the third day, HA-YOU members advertised a mass “freedom rally” that was going to take place that night at a negro church by passing out leaflets. This was the day that the first FBI agents appeared in Huntsville. About 250 people attended the rally that night, but when they met outside the church, they found its doors locked. They adapted to this set back by having their rally on the lawn instead. Speakers gave inspirational talks and testimonies were given, and afterwards, HA-YOU marched one mile to the courthouse. When they arrived at the courthouse, they ran into some aggressive white people, and the FBI appeared to clear HA-YOU’s path back to the church. This night march also gave the HA-YOU movement press coverage.
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\r\nThe goal of Wednesday, the fourth day of the movement, was to challenge each small community nearby to hold their own meetings that night. Additionally, they wanted each community to get the word out about a second mass meeting that would be occurring the next night. The decision was also made this day for the SCLC to send B.T. Bonner to Huntsville the next day. Wednesday night, many small meetings ensued under the protection of local law enforcement officers and FBI men. News of Thursday night’s meeting was broadcasted across Texas.
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\r\nOn Thursday, the fifth night of the movement, the HA-YOU students arrived to the church for their second mass meeting and found the doors once again locked. Although it seemed that the churches in Huntsville were against the movement completely, Linda Broussard reasoned that most churches “didn’t want it out in public [that they supported the movement], but they backed [HA-YOU] financially and in other ways”. The churches were mainly afraid of backlash in the community and from the KKK for being involved with a civil rights activist group such as the HA-YOU organization. Seeing that the church doors were locked, the group instead met in the parking lot of a fire station because this area was public property. The meeting consisted of singing for about 25 minutes, and then the group marched down to the courthouse. The HA-YOU members received a lot of heckling from white onlookers at the courthouse, but Bonner’s leadership helped the demonstrators stay strong. This night also contained the first time the police escorted a heckler away from the group, which marked “the first clear break in the pattern of passivity by local authorities”. [12] [13]
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\r\nReverend Sampson arrived from SCLC in Huntsville on the sixth day, Friday, of the movement. Sampson played a lively role in boosting moral of the demonstrators during these challenging times. This was also the night that Sampson was able to have the first face-to-face meeting, lasting 2 hours at the courthouse, between the HA-YOU movement leaders and all levels of law enforcement. In this meeting, segregation, human dignity, and quieting the hecklers was discussed. Common ground was established between the two groups.
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\r\nOn Saturday, the seventh day of the movement, a couple leaders of the HA-YOU movement discussed how white support could be productively utilized in support of their efforts. Sampson made a speech on the courthouse lawn to an audience of white and black citizens over 60 years old about how they need to support the younger members of the community that are trying to make a positive impact on Huntsville. The next morning, it became apparent that Sampson’s speech had rallied 26 white supporters of the HA-YOU movement.
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\r\nSunday, the eighth day of the movement, was centered around support from white people. The strategy behind this logic was to break down the Southern caste system and help bring the community closer together. On this day, members of the Negro Chamber of Commerce decided they should meet to discuss whether a cooling-off period was appropriate or not. Meanwhile, Sampson was giving a speech in a park about how the young members of HA-YOU had been fighting for freedom in the Huntsville community. Additionally, there was an event occurring at the Raven Café this day in an attempt for the café to label itself as integrated. The 26 white supporters of HA-YOU entered the Raven Café and soon filled the café entirely and claimed they would not move until the café “’[notified] HA-YOU that [they were] integrated’”. At around 7:25pm that night, the 26 white supporters were told that they were disturbing the peace and that they would be place under arrest. Upon their arrival at the county jail, they found about 15 HA-YOU movement members on the street across from the jail singing freedom songs. Although upset that they had ended up in jail, the white supporters were pleased to know that they had assisted in raising awareness of the HA-YOU movement. While in jail, they worked together to write an open letter that would explain who they were and why they were willing to go to jail for the HA-YOU movement and civil rights cause. Later that night, about 250 members of the HA-YOU movement crowded around the jail to sing and march. The fact that 26 white supporters were willing to go to jail for HA-YOU left a lasting impression on the black community. HA-YOU raised the bond money needed for their release and East Texas was left in shock at how whites had gone to jail for negroes, negro lawyers had defended them, and whites were bailed out by negroes. [14]
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\r\nOn the ninth day, the KKK had 15 hooded members drink coffee at the Raven Café. One member was arrested for the charges of public intoxication and cursing. However, after a $28 fine, he was released. Additionally, the open letter the white supporters had written in jail was read over television in Houston this day.
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\r\nThe efforts of the HA-YOU movement were successful, and the members made an impact in the Huntsville community the summer of 1965. Milford Hawkins recognized that “it was not easy” and that taking part in the movement “was like a job,” but he is proud to have made a difference in our world. MLK was also proud of the HA-YOU movement’s efforts in Huntsville and sent a letter to Linda Broussard’s aunt showing his support. Furthermore, the city of Huntsville gave both Linda Broussard and Milford Hawkins a proclamation in 2015 that recognized the HA-YOU movement on the 50th anniversary of their fight for freedom. In the words of Linda, we must “love one another, respect each other, and treat people the way you want them to treat you” in order for a society to prosper. The impact of the HA-YOU movement can still be seen today, and it is important to remember and appreciate the fight for freedom that happened in the East Texas town of Huntsville. [15] [16]
","sponsor":null,"accessinfo":"","lede":"","website":"","related_resources":["[1] Goodwyn, Larry. “'Hey-You' in Huntsville.” Texas Observer, 6 Aug. 1965, pp. 1. ;","[2] Milford Hawkins, interviewed by Morgan Knesek and Jeffery L. Littlejohn, November 1, 2019, Huntsville, Texas, in author’s possession. ;","[3] Milford Hawkins, interviewed by Morgan Knesek and Jeffery L. Littlejohn, November 1, 2019, Huntsville, Texas, in author’s possession. ;","[4] Linda Broussard, interviewed by Morgan Knesek and Jeffery L. Littlejohn, November 1, 2019, Huntsville, Texas, in author’s possession. ;","[5] Linda Broussard and Milford Hawkins, interviewed by Morgan Knesek and Jeffery L. Littlejohn, November 1, 2019, Huntsville, Texas, in author’s possession. ;","[6] Linda Broussard, interviewed by Morgan Knesek and Jeffery L. Littlejohn, November 1, 2019, Huntsville, Texas, in author’s possession. ;","[7] Goodwyn, Larry. “'Hey-You' in Huntsville.” Texas Observer, 6 Aug. 1965, pp. 4. ;","[8] Linda Broussard, interviewed by Morgan Knesek and Jeffery L. Littlejohn, November 1, 2019, Huntsville, Texas, in author’s possession. ;","[9] Milford Hawkins, interviewed by Morgan Knesek and Jeffery L. Littlejohn, November 1, 2019, Huntsville, Texas, in author’s possession. ;","[10] Linda Broussard, interviewed by Morgan Knesek and Jeffery L. Littlejohn, November 1, 2019, Huntsville, Texas, in author’s possession. ;","[11] Goodwyn, Larry. “'Hey-You' in Huntsville.” Texas Observer, 6 Aug. 1965, pp. 5. ;","[12] Linda Broussard, interviewed by Morgan Knesek and Jeffery L. Littlejohn, November 1, 2019, Huntsville, Texas, in author’s possession. ;","[13] Goodwyn, Larry. “'Hey-You' in Huntsville.” Texas Observer, 6 Aug. 1965, pp. 6. ;","[14] Goodwyn, Larry. “'Hey-You' in Huntsville.” Texas Observer, 6 Aug. 1965, pp. 7. ;","[15] Milford Hawkins, interviewed by Morgan Knesek and Jeffery L. Littlejohn, November 1, 2019, Huntsville, Texas, in author’s possession. ;","[16] Linda Broussard, interviewed by Morgan Knesek and Jeffery L. Littlejohn, November 1, 2019, Huntsville, Texas, in author’s possession. ;"],"factoids":["link to youtube video of interview with Linda Broussard and Milford Hawkins","link to Texas Observer HA-YOU article from 1965"],"files":{"https://easttexashistory.org/files/fullsize/1e3c17b5dcefaded102ba3b538bfd93d.jpg":{"id":2691,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"flyer.jpg","description":"","thumbnail":"https://easttexashistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/1e3c17b5dcefaded102ba3b538bfd93d.jpg"},"https://easttexashistory.org/files/fullsize/ac6c824d4b36b807a32825b38148cdce.jpg":{"id":2690,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"sheriff_who_hits.jpg","description":"","thumbnail":"https://easttexashistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/ac6c824d4b36b807a32825b38148cdce.jpg"},"https://easttexashistory.org/files/fullsize/ca64232e95dcdf790280809c778e51b2.jpg":{"id":2692,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"rev_richard_boone.jpg","description":"","thumbnail":"https://easttexashistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/ca64232e95dcdf790280809c778e51b2.jpg"},"https://easttexashistory.org/files/fullsize/0120a56f8a16fd362b2e1198d7834a63.jpg":{"id":2292,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Linda Broussard and Milford Hawkins","description":"These are two past members of the HA-YOU movement in Huntsville, TX that I had the pleasure of interviewing. Both Linda and Milford were arrested on multiple occasions for their activism, and consequently, sent to reform schools against their wills. When they returned to Huntsville, they continued their activist efforts and endeavored to change the community. | 2019","thumbnail":"https://easttexashistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/0120a56f8a16fd362b2e1198d7834a63.jpg"},"https://easttexashistory.org/files/fullsize/8dd1bee0da6e956c4a7a92827edd37bc.jpg":{"id":2293,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Café Texan","description":"This is a picture of the restaurant that the HA-YOU organization worked to de-segregate during their nine-day movement in 1965.","thumbnail":"https://easttexashistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/8dd1bee0da6e956c4a7a92827edd37bc.jpg"},"https://easttexashistory.org/files/fullsize/078f9175af407806551c0b434d1fe7f7.jpg":{"id":2294,"mime-type":"image/jpeg","title":"Old Town Theatre","description":"This is the theatre in Huntsville, TX that the HA-YOU movement worked to de-segregate on the first day of their movement.","thumbnail":"https://easttexashistory.org/files/square_thumbnails/078f9175af407806551c0b434d1fe7f7.jpg"},"https://easttexashistory.org/files/original/6709a66b76f61c55eeddea03454d9af0.mp3":{"id":2295,"mime-type":"audio/mpeg","title":"Audio Recording of Interview with Linda Broussard and Milford Hawkins","description":"November 1, 2019"}}}