Dr. Robert Hayling (1929 - 2015)

Wed Nov 20, 1929

Image

Dr. Robert B. Hayling, born on this day in 1929, has been hailed as the “father” of St. Augustine’s civil rights movement and was a staunch advocate of armed self-defense within the black community. He organized demonstrations and coordinated visiting activists, including Dr. Martin Luther King.

Dr. Hayling brought direct action to the local chapter of the NAACP by organizing young people into a youth council within the organization. At his dental office, Dr. Hayling taught them methods of nonviolent activism. He arranged picketing and sit-ins at white-only restaurants, and wade-ins at a white-only pool and beach, and was arrested many times for his activism, as well as being assaulted by the Ku Klux Klan.

As he gained a reputation for militancy, Hayling was threatened with the revocation of his local NAACP chapter’s charter by Executive Secretary Roy Wilkins. Hayling replied, “I will mail you your charter”, and vowed to continue his activities without the support of the NAACP.

Dr. Hayling is also remembered for this quote: “I and the others have armed. We will shoot first and answer questions later. We are not going to die like Medgar Evers.” Dr. Hayling died in 2015, at the age of 86.