7/26/2010
The 12th annual pilgrimage honoring slain civil rights advocate Jonathan Myrick Daniels and others who lost their lives during the 1960s struggle for voting rights, is scheduled Saturday, Aug. 14, in Hayneville. Ala. A contingent from the Diocese of Atlanta participates annually. This year the Rev. Barry Griffin will lead a group from St. Augustine’s Episcopal Church, Morrow, and members of St. John's, East Point, will travel there as well.
The pilgrimage begins at 11 a.m. Central Time at the Courthouse Square in Hayneville. The procession will go to the old county jail where Daniels and Sales were among those detained for a week and then will move to the old Cash Grocery Store where Daniels was killed. The pilgrimage will end at the Courthouse where a service of Holy Communion will take place in the courtroom where the man who killed Daniels was tried and acquitted.
The Rt. Rev. Todd Ousley, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Eastern Michigan, will be featured speaker at the worship service.
Daniels was an Episcopal seminarian who answered the call of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. to help register African-American voters in Alabama. He was shot and killed on Aug. 20, 1965, while shielding then-16-year-old Ruby Sales from a shotgun blast as she attempted to enter a store to buy something to drink. Daniels was added to the Episcopal Church Calendar of Saints and Martyrs in 1994 to be remembered each Aug. 14.
“The annual event is about more than just commemorating those who paid the ultimate sacrifice for civil rights,” said the Rev. Patrick Wingo of the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama, sponsor of this year’s event. “It is also about reconciliation, about looking to the future, and about celebrating the dignity of every human being. Everyone is invited to join us for the event.” Refreshments will be available in the Courthouse Square following the pilgrimage.
“The pilgrimage brings to life real violence against real people,” says Wynn Callaway, a member of St. Benedict’s Episcopal Church, Smyrna, who has taken part on three occasions. “On this pilgrimage, you feel the heat of an August day in Alabama. You see the airless conditions of a jail cell that held for days more people than occupancy allowed. You walk the streets, and you kneel where Jonathan was fired upon and died. I am always moved to tears as I try to comprehend their suffering for a just and right cause.”
Directions: For directions to the Lowndes County courthouse—where Episcopalians will gather to walk with the Diocese of Atlanta banner—click here. (Bring an umbrella or rain gear in case of inclement weather and a hat for great weather.) Carpooling is encouraged; to inquire about carpooling, contact Wynn Callaway, wcallaway@episcopalatlanta.org or 404-601-5351.
Pictures from the pilgrimage in 2009 are here: http://picasaweb.google.com/atldiophotos/JMDanielsPilgrimage2009#
A video documentary narrated by Sam Waterston, Here Am I, Send Me: The Journey of Jonathan Daniels, is available on loan from the Diocese of Atlanta Resource Center. Contact Linda Scott, Lscott@episcopalatlanta.org
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