| Episcopal seminarian Jonathan Myrick Daniels heard Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s call to go to Alabama to help register people to vote. Daniels was martyred on August 20, 1965 in Hayneville, AL, when he stepped in front of a loaded shotgun to save the life of teenager Ruby Sales. Daniels is commemorated every year with a pilgrimage to the place of his murder, the jail cell which held him prior to his death, and the courthouse where his killer was exonerated. This passage from Isaiah inspired Daniels' action. (Photo credit Bridget Reeves Tytler) . Read more in "Outside Agitator: Jon Daniels and the Civil Rights Movement in Alabama" by Charles W. Eagles or watch "The Granite Saint: The Story of Jonathan Daniels" on www.wmur.com. |
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LOOKING FORWARD TO
EPF'S NEXT YEAR OF ACTION EVENT! |
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| The next stop on EPF's 80th Anniversary Year of Action will be in Alabama. Join us August 9-10, 2019 in Montgomery for our pilgrimage to the The National Memorial for Peace and Justice and The Legacy Museum (www.museumandmemorial.eji.org) followed by the annual Jonathan Myrick Daniels and the Martyrs of Alabama Pilgrimage to Hayneville, Lowndes County, Alabama, sponsored by the Episcopal Diocese of Alabama and the Episcopal Diocese of the Central Gulf Coast. |
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| Many are calling the Legacy Museum and the National Memorial for Peace and Justice the "Lynching Memorial." It is a project of Bryan Stevenson and the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery. The Lynching Memorial powerfully makes the case that racial terror is alive and well in America today, and that we continue to enslave our young men of color at alarming rates. It is a simple fact that one in three young black men in America will go to prison and will remain disenfranchised and stigmatized by our justice system. We will visit these landmark memorials on Friday, August 9.
On Saturday, August 10, EPF will join in the Jonathan Myrick Daniels Pilgrimage which will take place in Hayneville in Lowndes County, Alabama. From the Diocese of Alabama website: "Over its 23 years, the pilgrimage has grown into one of the most recognized pilgrimages of our Church, bringing people from many dioceses and seminaries across the country to the spot where Daniels, an Episcopal seminarian from Keene, New Hampshire, was shot to death in August 1965 trying to protect an African-American teenage girl. The event is held annually on the second Saturday of August.
"The Pilgrimage begins at 11:00 a.m. in front of the courthouse in Hayneville, the place where an all-white jury in a sham trial lasting less than an hour found Jonathan’s murderer, Tom Coleman, not guilty. Pilgrims march to the jail where Daniels and his companions were held, and from there to the place where he was killed at a small country store that has since been razed, then back to the courthouse. In a moving Eucharist, the judge’s bench of that 1965 trial becomes the altar on which the sacrament is consecrated. Fourteen other martyrs of the Alabama civil rights movement are recognized and honored in this service as well as Daniels."
Plan to join us for these painful and transformative experiences, where we look the awful truth of our hateful heritage in the face, and come away inspired to help those of us still imprisoned by our systemic racism become free at last. As Bishop of California Rt. Rev. Marc Andrus once said of the Jonathan Daniels' pilgrimage, “What happens here today is an opportunity for Episcopalians to search for reconciliation across all lines that divide us.”
Hotel details, transportation and ticket information for the memorials and pilgrimage will be available soon, so watch this space! |
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"For the hanged and beaten.
For the shot, drowned, and burned.
For the tortured, tormented, and terrorized.
For those abandoned by the rule of law.
We will remember.
With hope because hopelessness is the enemy of justice.
With courage because peace requires bravery.
With persistence because justice is a constant struggle.
With faith because we shall overcome.” |
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Like so many tortured, hanging people of color,
each county memorial hangs with rust tracks
that evoke the blood of the slain, whose
names are inscribed thereon. |
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"Raise Up" by Hank Willis Thomas is among
the powerful sculptures at the
National Memorial for Peace and Justice.
Past meets present. |
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| Horrific lynchings were not only terror in the South. |
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Jonathan Myrick Daniels icon hangs at
St. Andrew's-Birmingham, Alabama.
His feast day is August 14. |
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| The August pilgrimage also commemorates the other martyrs of the civil rights movement, among them: Willie Edmunds, William Lewis Moore, Addie Mae Collins, Denise McNair, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley, Virgil Lamar Ware, Jimmie Lee Jackson, Rev. James Rabe, Vida Gregg Liuzzo, Willie Brewster, and Samuel Leamon Younge, Jr. Placards for each martyr are carried along the pilgrimage route and each story is told at the memorial Eucharist, held following the pilgrimage in the Lowndes County Courthouse where Jonathan Daniel's killer, an off duty sheriff's deputy, was exonerated by an all white jury. (Photo credit Bridget Reeves Tytler) |
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| GUN VIOLENCE PREVENTION WEEKEND |
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Wear Orange Weekend to create awareness around
gun violence prevention is June 7-9, 2019.
Find an event near you at https://wearorange.org. |
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And speaking of Gun Violence Prevention advocacy,
this just in from our North Dallas EPF Chapter:
The Peace Mennonite Church in Dallas invited the North Dallas EPF Chapter to dinner and a movie (followed by discussion). The film, “Beating Guns,” is based on a book by Shane Claiborne and Mike Martin. You can preview the movie at beatingguns.com.
What a great idea for our Peace Partner Parishes and Chapters to replicate! Thanks to North Dallas EPF Convener Ron Damholt for the link and the information. |
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| Advocacy against drone warfare |
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| EPF is participating in this important work -- learning to advocate against drone warfare. We would like to send at least two of us to Princeton, NJ to represent Episcopalians everywhere and then to carry this advocacy forward for us. We have one committed volunteer -- are you Interested in this important ministry? Let us know and let's see how we can make funds available to help get you there! epfactnow |
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Melanie's upcoming schedule:
Looking forward, EPF will be in:
June 8: Wear Orange for Gun Violence Prevention, Winston Salem, NC
June 19: Juneteenth event, Lenoir-Rhyne University, Asheville, NC
June 27-29: Washington, DC "Love God, Love Neighbor: Advocacy in Action"
July 12-13: Big Provincial Gathering, Province V, Kalamazoo, MI
July 20: Commemoration of Sojourner Truth, Battle Creek, MI
July 21: Grace Episcopal Church, Traverse City, MI
August 8: St. Andrew's, Birmingham, AL
August 9-10: Commemoration of Jonathan Daniels and Martyrs of Alabama
Visit to Legacy Museum and National Memorial for Peace and
Justice, Montgomery and Hayneville, AL
Sept. 4: Bp. Paul Jones feast day, Diocese of Vermont
Sept. 27-29 Drone warfare initiative, Princeton, NJ
Oct 13-24 Palestine
Nov. 11: EPF 80th Anniversary, Providence, RI
Nov. 14-16: Borderland Ministry Summit, St. Stephen’s, Tucson, AZ
Dec. 22: National Day of Reparations (FOR) TBD
Are you near any of our planned stops and want to visit? Just shout! epfactnow
Until next time,
power to the peaceful!
Melanie |
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Join us at the Province V Big Provincial Gathering in July!
We'd love to see you at our evening reception on Friday, July 12 at 6:00pm! |
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| Rhododendron blooming in Tate City, Georgia over Memorial Day weekend. Cool and peaceful. |
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How can we support EPF while Melanie is on the road?
- Give to EPF
- Offers of hospitality always welcome!
- Suggestions of icons of social justice, landmarks or museums she must see.
- Driveway for parking "Miranda", her home on wheels. (Home or church parking lot welcome)
- Offer of laundry facilities.
- Suggestions of coffee shops, eateries, and sports bars she should visit.
- Identify best walks and hikes in your neighborhood.
- Invite her to church!
- Prayers for safe travel.
- Favorite camp sites (with dump station, preferred).
- Visits with your pets -- she is feeling deprived!
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