On the morning of March 4, 1960, a group of 13 Texas Southern University students walked from campus to a Weingarten’s grocery store on Almeda Road.
They took seats at the lunch counter and ordered food from a business that refused to serve Black customers. The students were denied service, but they did not leave, remaining seated in quiet protest and igniting Houston’s first major civil rights demonstration.
At the time, segregation laws and customs across the South barred Black customers from sitting at “white-only” lunch counters.
Sixty-six years later, the lunch counter is gone. The city has transformed. The laws have changed.
But the spirit of student activism that began that day still echoes across the TSU campus, even as today’s students confront a very different set of political battles.
From voting rights to education policy and immigration debates, a new generation of Black student activists is redefining what civil rights advocacy looks like in Texas.
A lunch counter that sparked a movement
Archival images from Texas Southern University, curated by John Bland, capture the moment Texas Southern University students transformed disciplined, nonviolent protest into a turning point in Houston’s civil rights history. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the Progressive Youth Association (PYA). 
Archival images from Texas Southern University, curated by John Bland, capture the moment Texas Southern University students transformed disciplined, nonviolent protest into a turning point in Houston’s civil rights history. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the Progressive Youth Association (PYA). 
Archival images from Texas Southern University, curated by John Bland, capture the moment Texas Southern University students transformed disciplined, nonviolent protest into a turning point in Houston’s civil rights history. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the Progressive Youth Association (PYA). 
Archival images from Texas Southern University, curated by John Bland, capture the moment Texas Southern University students transformed disciplined, nonviolent protest into a turning point in Houston’s civil rights history. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the Progressive Youth Association (PYA). 
Archival images from Texas Southern University, curated by John Bland, capture the moment Texas Southern University students transformed disciplined, nonviolent protest into a turning point in Houston’s civil rights history. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the Progressive Youth Association (PYA). 
Archival images from Texas Southern University, curated by John Bland, capture the moment Texas Southern University students transformed disciplined, nonviolent protest into a turning point in Houston’s civil rights history. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the Progressive Youth Association (PYA). 
Archival images from Texas Southern University, curated by John Bland, capture the moment Texas Southern University students transformed disciplined, nonviolent protest into a turning point in Houston’s civil rights history. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the Progressive Youth Association (PYA). 
Archival images from Texas Southern University, curated by John Bland, capture the moment Texas Southern University students transformed disciplined, nonviolent protest into a turning point in Houston’s civil rights history. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the Progressive Youth Association (PYA). 
Archival images from Texas Southern University, curated by John Bland, capture the moment Texas Southern University students transformed disciplined, nonviolent protest into a turning point in Houston’s civil rights history. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the Progressive Youth Association (PYA). 
Archival images from Texas Southern University, curated by John Bland, capture the moment Texas Southern University students transformed disciplined, nonviolent protest into a turning point in Houston’s civil rights history. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the Progressive Youth Association (PYA). 
Archival images from Texas Southern University, curated by John Bland, capture the moment Texas Southern University students transformed disciplined, nonviolent protest into a turning point in Houston’s civil rights history. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the Progressive Youth Association (PYA). 
Archival images from Texas Southern University, curated by John Bland, capture the moment Texas Southern University students transformed disciplined, nonviolent protest into a turning point in Houston’s civil rights history. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the Progressive Youth Association (PYA). 
Archival images from Texas Southern University, curated by John Bland, capture the moment Texas Southern University students transformed disciplined, nonviolent protest into a turning point in Houston’s civil rights history. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the Progressive Youth Association (PYA).
It was the protest that changed Houston. Historians say the 1960 sit-in was both local and national in its significance.
The protest, organized by the students’ Progressive Youth Association, challenged the city’s system of legally enforced segregation and strategized to dismantle it. In the days leading up to the demonstration, students gathered on TSU’s campus and at the nearby YMCA on Wheeler Street to plan what they deemed “war room” sessions. During these meetings, they carefully mapped out a strategy to confront discriminatory laws through nonviolent protests.
Inspired by the sit-in launched weeks earlier by students at North Carolina A&T in Greensboro, the TSU students assembled at a flagpole outside Hannah Hall on TSU’s campus. After saying a prayer, they lined up in pairs and marched toward Weingarten’s along Wheeler Street. When the students arrived at the store, they entered quietly and took seats at the lunch counter.
According to Texas Southern University law professor James Douglas, the protest began with just 13 students and then quickly became a turning point for the city.
“At that time, African Americans did not have the ability to eat in white restaurants,” said Douglas, who was 16 at the time. “This was the beginning of the civil rights movement in Houston…They integrated the lunch counter soon after that.”
“I think it was huge because it was the beginning of the protest in Houston,” Douglas said.
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA. 
Members of the Progressive Youth Association, including its first president, Eldrewey Stearns, coordinated protests at segregated establishments across the city. Credit: Texas Southern University alumnus John Bland, who helped organize Houston’s first sit-in at the Weingarten’s grocery store lunch counter, and was the secretary of the PYA.
The demonstration’s leader, Eldrewey Stearns, had already alerted the police before the protest began, a deliberate move meant to ensure the sit-in remained peaceful and organized.
The action marked the beginning of a series of sit-ins at segregated establishments across Houston.
Behind the scenes, the protests triggered a wave of negotiations among the city’s political and business leaders. Black and white leaders met privately to discuss how to dismantle segregation in Houston’s restaurants and businesses without the violent confrontations seen in other Southern cities. Within months, Houston businesses began gradually integrating their lunch counters.
The students’ actions added momentum to a broader civil rights movement sweeping the country, one that would eventually culminate in the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Decades later, the protest site looks very different. A U.S. post office now occupies the location where Weingarten’s grocery store once stood.
Karen Kossie-Chernyshev, a professor of history at TSU, says the students were closely following national developments.
“They were actually inspired by students at North Carolina A&T, and they decided, ‘We need to make sure that we make a statement here in the city of Houston,’” Kossie-Chernyshev said.
She added that several campus organizations, such as the “Divine Nine” to which the students were affiliated, also helped engage with social issues in the community.
‘We just believed it was the right thing to do’
For those who participated, the demonstrations carried real danger.
Texas State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, a TSU alum, was among the students who participated in the 1960 sit-in at a Medex Pharmacy where a Walgreens sits today. During the protest, she recalled a terrifying encounter while sitting at a lunch counter.
“We just believed it was the right thing to do.”
– Texas State Rep. Senfronia Thompson, a TSU alum, who participated in the 1960 sit-in
“A white man came in with a double-barreled shotgun … and said, ‘I’m going to kill every ****** [Black person] sitting on those stools,’” Thompson recalled.
The students did not move.
“We just sat there,” Thompson said. “We never turned around and looked at him.”
Outside, a crowd had gathered, pleading with the students to leave. “Why y’all don’t leave these white people alone?” some of them said.
“We never looked around, even at them,” Thompson said.
The episode lasted for nearly an hour before the man left.
Many students faced the risk of arrest or violence. Others worried that being arrested could damage their future careers.
But Thompson recalled that those fears did not deter the protestors.
“It gave me a lot of determination to want to fight down the bastions, those remaining bastions of segregation,” Thompson said. “We just believed it was the right thing to do.”
New issues, new activism
While the civil rights movement of the 1960s focused on segregation and voting rights, the political landscape facing students today is different.
Artist Tyson, a political science senior with a minor in African American studies at TSU, said he had heard about the broader civil rights movement growing up in the South, in “deep” Louisiana and Alabama, but did not initially know about the TSU protest.
“These people who were doing these sit-ins in the 1960s were the same age that I am now,” Tyson said. “That just reinforces this idea that you very much are capable.
He added that, in the post-segregation era, students’ issues have changed. Among his peers, he sees an increased concern about voter turnout and representation in Congress.
“We’re a part of Congressional District 18, and for nearly a year, we were without representation,” added Tyson, referencing the gap in representation after Sylvester Turned died in office last year and Christian Menefee winning the run-off election last January. “If you don’t have a representative, that means you don’t have a say in things that go on in Texas, and that affects you. We’re very much living in a time where our democracy is flawed and in need of leadership that won’t be negligent to the needs of the American citizens.”
Tyson has also observed the use of social media to let other students know about upcoming voter turnout rallies and protests.
“We have to be intentional,” he said. “When you speak up, it sets a precedent that we’re not going to be tolerant and we’re going to make efforts to ensure that this will not continue. We have to use our voices, and we can’t be scared to do so.”
For Je’Von Tone, a graduate student studying public administration at TSU, learning about the protest helped connect the university’s history with its present role in civic engagement.
Tone agrees that voter turnout among college-going voters is low, “because they think that their voice is not being heard.” Other issues include systemic gaps in the education system.
“Our education system is broken,” Tone said. “Not enough students in elementary, middle, and high school really know their history…If we mean get into the real hardcore history of how things were back in the day, including the Jim Crow era and the sit-in of 1960, they don’t really know that stuff. Politics and history will forever repeat themselves.”
The tools of activism have also changed dramatically since 1960.
In the civil rights era, organizing relied heavily on centralized leadership and formal civil rights organizations such as the NAACP or the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Today’s movements are often decentralized and digitally driven.
Dr. Toniesha Taylor, a professor of communication and the founding director of the Center for Africana Futures at TSU, says the core goal of activism remains the same.
But the structure of movements has evolved. Instead of a single leader guiding a movement, modern activism often involves multiple groups organizing simultaneously through social media and grassroots networks.
“The central thing is that people are advocating for some sort of social change, and the way that they do that is through talking,” Taylor said. “A social movement only becomes a social movement through communication, not because a thousand people gather together in a park.”
Digital organizing has also expanded the reach of protests, allowing small groups of students to mobilize quickly and coordinate campaigns online, she said.
The political environment surrounding higher education has also shifted.
Across Texas and the nation, debates over diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), academic freedom and campus speech have intensified.
Scholars say these tensions could produce a new wave of student activism.
Michael Adams, a professor of public affairs and director of the master of Public Affairs graduate program at TSU’s Barbra Jordan-Mickey Leland School of Public Affairs, said the lessons of the 1960 sit-in remain relevant for today’s students and institutions.
“The students at Weingarten’s didn’t wait for the political climate to become comfortable,” Adams said. “They decided that their dignity was not negotiable, and they acted on that conviction. If today’s students feel that same fire when they see their history being legislated away and their identities treated as political inconveniences, they should know they are standing in a long and righteous line.”
For universities, Adams argues, the challenge is balancing political realities with institutional mission.
“Sixty-six years later, the question is whether today’s leadership knows it too,” Adams said. “TSU’s greatest legacy is not a building or an endowment. It is a moment, a group of young people who decided that Texas would have to reckon with their full humanity. The best way to honor that legacy is not a plaque or a ceremony. It is to be just as unapologetically committed to the future of Black Americans today as those students were in 1960. Because history does not remember institutions that played it safe. It remembers the ones that stood up.”
Historically Black colleges and universities have long served as incubators for political leadership and social movements.
Kossie-Chernyshev describes the university as deeply intertwined with the political history of Black Texans.
“TSU is the seedbed for so much important political activity, namely because of the history of the institution itself,” she said. “It is tied to the political experience of people of African descent in the state of Texas.
