Ruby Sales facts for kids

Ruby Nell Sales (born July 8, 1948) is an amazing African-American leader. She is known for working for social justice, being a smart scholar, and a public theologian. People have called her a "legendary civil rights activist" because of her important work. The Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture in Washington, DC, even features her as one of 50 top civil rights leaders.

Ruby Sales has earned degrees from several great schools, including Tuskegee Institute, Manhattanville College, and Princeton University. In 1998, she earned a Masters of Divinity from the Episcopal Divinity School. Today, she leads an organization called the Spirit House Project. She often travels to speak about important topics like race, social classes, and how people can come together.

Ruby Sales' Early Life

Ruby Sales grew up in a time when schools were separated by race. She went to local schools for Black students, like Carver High School. She also learned a lot from her community during the 1960s, which was the era of the Civil Rights Movement.

Joining the Civil Rights Movement

After finishing high school, Ruby Sales went to Tuskegee Institute. There, she became a part of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). This group worked to end unfair treatment and segregation. When she was just 17 years old, she bravely marched in the Selma to Montgomery marches in 1965. These marches were a big part of the fight for voting rights.

A Difficult Day in 1965

In the summer of 1965, Ruby Sales left college to work full-time. She helped people register to vote as part of the U.S. Civil Rights Movement. The SNCC group sent her to Calhoun County, Alabama.

Students in Fort Deposit, a small town, asked SNCC for help. They wanted to protest how a local store owner treated their parents, who were sharecroppers. SNCC sent members from different areas to join the protest. Ruby Sales knew that she and the others were scared. Violence and threats were common in that area, which was sometimes called "Bloody Lowndes." On August 14, 1965, Ruby Sales was one of about 30 people who took part in the protest.

Many people in the group were arrested. They were taken to jail in Hayneville. After being held for six days, they were suddenly let go. No one had been told they would be released, so there was no one there to pick them up. Ruby and a few others went to a nearby store to get a drink.

At the store, a man named Tom Coleman threatened them with a shotgun. He worked for the state highway department and was also a volunteer deputy. One of Ruby's friends, Jonathan Daniels, bravely pushed her out of the way. Jonathan, who was a white student studying to be a priest, took the shot that was meant for her, and he died. Jonathan was a very smart student from the Virginia Military Institute and was studying at the Episcopal Divinity School.

Jonathan's death deeply affected Ruby. It was so hard for her that she found it difficult to speak for about seven months. Even with dangers to her and her family, Ruby Sales decided to speak at Tom Coleman's trial. Even though she bravely testified, the person who shot Jonathan was found not guilty by an all-white jury. This was a very unfair outcome.

Continuing the Fight for Justice

After this difficult time, Ruby Sales went on to attend Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge. This was the same school Jonathan Daniels had attended. She has worked as a human rights advocate in Washington, D.C., and all across the southern United States.

The Spirit House Project

Ruby Sales started a non-profit organization called the Spirit House Project. It is a mission in the city that honors Jonathan Daniels.

Since 2007, the Spirit House Project has kept records of many deaths of Black people caused by state actions. They found that 98 percent of those people were not armed. Ruby Sales believes that the idea of "Black Lives Matter" has always been important in the fight for justice, even during the time of slavery.

At a conference she organized in 2014, Ruby Sales explained that saying "All Lives Matter" as a response to "Black Lives Matter" can support the idea of white nationalism. The conference was called "What's Behind the Wave of Police and Vigilante Killings of Black People?" It was held on April 22, 2014, in Washington, DC. Ruby Sales and Cheryl Blankenship worked together to organize this important event.