{"id":57989,"date":"2016-02-04T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-04T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/social-justice-activist-ruby-sales-recounts-how-a-seminarian-saved-her-life-during-civil-rights-struggle-in-south\/"},"modified":"2016-02-04T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-02-04T00:00:00","slug":"social-justice-activist-ruby-sales-recounts-how-a-seminarian-saved-her-life-during-civil-rights-struggle-in-south","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2016\/02\/social-justice-activist-ruby-sales-recounts-how-a-seminarian-saved-her-life-during-civil-rights-struggle-in-south\/","title":{"rendered":"Social justice activist Ruby Sales recounts how a seminarian saved her life during civil rights struggle in South"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I., Feb. 4, 2016 \u2013 She was thirsty. Cooped up in a sweltering jail cell for a week, Ruby Sales, a college student and civil rights worker, wanted a cold drink so she went to a local store with a friend, Jonathan Daniels.<\/p>\n


\nThomas Coleman was waiting for them with his shotgun: \u201cI\u2019ll blow your brains out,\u201d he snarled.<\/p>\n


\nShe felt a tug on her blouse. Daniels, a young Episcopal seminarian from New Hampshire, pushed her aside and took the bullet for her. His killing jolted her forever, turning her into an advocate for social justice, then and now.<\/p>\n


\nSales talked about the death of her friend\u2014and racial troubles in the world today\u2014during a Unity Luncheon Wednesday at the 溏心vlog免费B站 to honor Martin Luther King, Jr. 溏心vlog免费B站 100 faculty, students and staff attended the event in the Memorial Union.<\/p>\n


\n溏心vlog免费B站 50 years ago, Sales said she was a 17-year-old student at Tuskegee University, trying to decide if she wanted to become a housewife or a \u201cbeatnick.\u201d<\/p>\n

One day, the civil rights activist Stokely Carmichael came to talk. \u201cI had one of those light bulb experiences,\u201d Sales said. She started to understand that she was connected to \u201chistory, people, struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nIn 1965, she traveled to rural Alabama to join other activists, including Daniels, to register African Americans to vote. Like many activists back then, she ended up in jail. \u201cTorture is not an act of foreign countries,\u201d she told the crowd.<\/p>\n


\nSales said she and other female activists were threatened with rape. And although she was sick with awful stomach cramps, the sheriffs refused to call a doctor. Her saving grace: the man in the cell next to her\u2014Daniels. \u201cWe passed notes to each other,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n


\nFinally, after a week, authorities let Sales and her fellow activists go. It was a sweltering day\u2014\u201cthe kind when you can feel the heat pulsating from the pavement.\u201d She and Daniels went to get sodas at the \u201cCash Store\u201d for everyone because \u201cWe were young, and we were thirsty.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nColeman, a part-time deputy sheriff and construction worker, raised his 12-gauge shotgun and ordered them off the property. Daniels shoved Sales aside. Shots were fired. \u201cI heard shotgun blasts, and Jonathan fell to the ground. I think to myself, \u2018I must be dead.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n


\n\u201cRuby, Ruby, Ruby,\u201d a friend shouted from an abandoned car. Sales crawled to cover. Daniels\u2019 body was taken to the hospital in a hearse.<\/p>\n


\nDespite the trauma and death threats, Sales testified at Coleman\u2019s trial. <\/p>\n


\nAn all-white jury of 12 men acquitted him. \u201cTom Coleman never served a day in his life,\u201d said Sales. But the outcome led to a legal challenge and, ultimately, changes in the jury selection process.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI met Mrs. Daniels,\u201d Sales said. \u201cOh, how my heart wept.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nSince then, she has devoted her life to social justice. A former college professor, she now heads SpiritHouse, a nonprofit group she founded that brings diverse communities together through spirituality. She is also one of 30 African Americans to be spotlighted in the new Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture.<\/p>\n


\nRacism is as alive today as it was in a small town in Alabama half a century ago, she said. Many people are trying to undo what activists accomplished during the civil rights struggle. The recent killings of African American men by white police officers are especially troubling, she said.<\/p>\n


\nAnd the anti-Islam and anti-Mexican presidential campaign rhetoric from Republican candidate Donald Trump has been \u201cdeeply disturbing,\u201d with talk about \u201cbuilding walls, rapists and criminals coming in from Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI hear the souls of people wanting to make this country great again,\u201d she said. \u201cGreatness is not bullying. Greatness is the ability to stand side-by-side with one\u2019s neighbor.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nShe urged students to take risks: \u201cDo not conform. Put a knapsack on your back and see the world. Challenge authority. Do something spectacular. This is an opportunity to do something grand for your country, to be in a world that is yet to be born. We are depending on you.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAlso at the luncheon, a student and student group received the annual Peacemaker Award: Manuela Vadis, a junior who is involved in the Multicultural Student Services Center, Talent Development and Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Rhode Island; and 溏心vlog免费B站 Standers, a group of student athletes dedicated to raising awareness about and reducing sexual assault and domestic violence.<\/p>\n


\nThe Unity Luncheon is held annually as part of Martin Luther King, Jr. Week. Melvin Wade, director of the multicultural center, thanked the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies, Office of Community, Equity and Diversity, Office of the Provost, Lyn-Baker Dooley, the Chaplains Association, and the School of Education for their assistance organizing the event.<\/p>\n


\nPictured above: <\/p>\n


\nRuby Sales, the keynote speaker at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Unity Luncheon.<\/p>\n


\nManuela Vadis, a 溏心vlog免费B站 junior, receives the Peacemaker Award at 溏心vlog免费B站\u2019s Unity Luncheon. On the right is Adam Croft, campus chaplain with the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship.<\/p>\n


\nPhotos by 溏心vlog免费B站 staff photographer Nora Lewis.\n\t<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I., Feb. 4, 2016 \u2013 She was thirsty. Cooped up in a sweltering jail cell for a week, Ruby Sales, a college student and civil rights worker, wanted a cold drink so she went to a local store with a friend, Jonathan Daniels. Thomas Coleman was waiting for them with his shotgun: \u201cI\u2019ll […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57992,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57989","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57989","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57992"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}