This past August, Dr. Marlon Johnson, Dean of Community Life, attended the annual Jonathan Daniels Civil Rights Pilgrimage to Alabama with Southwest students. The Rev. Eileen O’Brien, Rector of St. James’ Episcopal Church in Austin also traveled with the group.
This year the pilgrimage marked 60 years since Jonathan Daniels was killed. Bishop Michael Curry, former Presiding Bishop of The Episcopal Church, preached at a special service held in the courthouse in Hayneville, Alabama to honor the anniversary.
The pilgrimage visited the Equal Justice Initiative Legacy Sites, and many historic sites associated with the civil rights movement, including the Dr. Richard Harris House, the Edmund Pettus Bridge, and Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham.
Iwao Asakura, a Southwest Master of Divinity senior, attended the pilgrimage and was interviewed by WBHM, a local radio station in Alabama. Asakura shared his experience of the trip and how he relates to Daniels. Read and listen to the story here.
Read more about Jonathan Daniels and the history of this important pilgrimage here.
