Pilgrimages to Georgia Sites of Martyrdom
For several years, Beloved Community, Commission for Dismantling Racism and the Diocese of Atlanta sponsored pilgrimages to Hayneville, Alabama remembering a priest who gave his life in the struggle for civil rights. In 2016 and 2017, we stayed inside our state's border, learning about - and from - events in Georgia's past. Each pilgrimage includes Holy Eucharist, the placing and blessing of a marker, and time for study and dialogue.
Saturday, October 28, 2017 | Athens, Georgia The Beloved Community: Commission for Dismantling Racism and the Absalom Jones Center For Racial Healing led a pilgrimage to Athens, Georgia to enlarge the conversation on race through remembering our martyred sisters and brothers, creating brave spaces where racial healing becomes possible. The day's activities included a Liturgy for Martyrs, held at the historic Chestnut Grove Baptist Church. Guest preacher was the Rev. Naomi Tutu. The day's program also included the screening and discussion of the documentary film 13th, a tour of the Chestnut Grove School (founded in 1887) and a cemetery of folks who had been held in slavery.
Saturday, October 22, 2016 | Macon, Georgia
Pilgrims bear witness to racial reconciliation at Georgia lynching siteBy Michelle Hiskey
[Diocese of Atlanta] In an effort to confront racism and heal from it, 175 people made a pilgrimage Saturday, Oct. 22 to Macon and marked where a 1922 lynch mob dumped the body of John “Cockey” Glover.
“Telling the truth is the only path to real healing,” Catherine Meeks told the crowd assembled inside the Douglass Theatre, a historic landmark in Macon established by one of the city’s first African-American entrepreneurs. “People want to say that that the truth will lead to division, but it’s the lies that keep us divided.”
The stone and bronze marker unveiled by Bishop Rob Wright with the names of “martyred brothers and unknown others” lynched from 1886 to 1922 in middle Georgia. The marker is embedded on the ground outside the historic Douglass Theater, where in 1922 a lynch mob dumped the body of John “Cockey” Glover.