HAYNEVILLE &045;&045; The crowd of a couple hundred people waited outside of the Hayneville jail in the brutual August heat, waiting for everyone to file through and look at the building.

On the edge of the crowd, two men stood together and started singing. After a moment, the rest of the group chimed in with the familiar song from the civil rights era, &uot;We Shall Overcome.&uot;

Jonathan Myrick Daniels would have been proud.

It is Daniels’ memory that these people came out to observe on Saturday. While Selma citizens celebrated the birthday of Civil Rights crusader Amelia Boynton-Robinson, out here in this small town in Lowndes County, another group was commemorating the death of Daniels.

Daniels died on August 20, 1965 in a small store in Hayneville. Days earlier, he and a group of people had been arrested for joining a picket line in Ft. Deposit. They were transferred to Hayneville, then released.

Lingering outside in the heat, Daniels and three others decided to head to the nearby store for a drink. When one of them, 16-year-old Ruby Sales, reached the building, Tom Coleman, an unemployed highway worker who had been deputized, appeared.

Coleman aimed a 12-gauge shotgun at Sales and Daniels quickly shielded her. Coleman shot, with Daniels being killed at point blank range.

At the time, Coleman said that Daniels had been armed with a knife. It turned out to be nothing more than a dime needed in order to purchase a soda.

This walk back in time meant something different to everyone. For Scott B. Smith, it shows how much progress has been made. For seventh grader James Stallworth, it’s a change to see history in action. For Mac Young and Joe Bailey, it is a return to a dark day in their past. For Mary Pitner, it is a chance to seek redemption.

Smith, who resides in Montgomery, was in jail the day Daniels was killed.

Smith pointed out that more white people and youth are interested in Daniels’ legacy now, thanks in part to the church. Smith pointed to two young black boys selling drinks in front of the courthouse.

One of those boys Smith pointed to, James Stallworth, comes from a household where he grew up learning about Jonathan Daniels. Now in junior high school, he talked about how his grandmother has books and videos about Daniels.

Mac Young and Joe Bailey saw this act of martyrdom first-hand. They were among the people in jail the same time Daniels had been there and were outside of the store when he was shot.

Part of the reason why a soda sounded so good to the group was because they did not eat any of the food provided by the jail. Bailey recalled that the food was worse than the rank facilities they had been crammed into. Neighbors brought by food and drinks for the prisoners every day.

This is the first trip back to Hayneville since that day for the men, who both now live in Ft. Deposit. Standing on the road outside of the store, Bailey pointed to a nearby post where the group waited for Daniels to come out of the store.

When the shots fired, Young said, Coleman came out of the store, announcing that he was going to shoot all of &uot;those damn niggers.&uot; Everyone started to run.

Pitner came with her church from Huffman, near Birmingham. Even though it’s the third time Daniels’ legacy has been honored, it’s the first time she’s made the pilgramiage.

Walking around the important sites of the event &045;&045; the jail, the store and the courtyard &045;&045; Pitner realized that redemption truly was possible.