Pilgrimage marks Civil Rights-era martyrdom of Jonathan Daniels

From Alabama-

Why should people remember this terrible story? Fifty years ago on a blazing August afternoon, Jonathan Daniels, a skinny white seminary student walked with a mixed group of civil rights workers in Hayneville, Ala., to a neighborhood store. The group was met by the store owner swinging a shotgun at them.

Daniels pushed 16-year-old Ruby Sales out of the line of fire, receiving the blast to his chest at nearly point-blank range. Daniels lay dying on the store's doorstep as the rest of the group scattered. Richard Morrisroe, then a Catholic priest, was also shot, but survived.

So why commemorate this event with the Jonathan Daniels Pilgrimage each year?

"That was a pivotal moment in the Civil Rights movement," said Alabama Rep. Kelvin Lawrence, who is also a former mayor of Hayneville. "Unfortunately, we have that history, but also, we can learn from history and move forward."

More here-

http://www.al.com/living/index.ssf/2015/08/jonathan_daniels_civil_rights.html