Antona

Abstract: This article is an historical study of the experiences of Sister Mary Antona Ebo, an African-American Sister of St. Mary who accompanied a northern contingent of priests, rabbis, ministers, nuns and laypeople to Selma, Alabama in March,1965. Their mission was to demonstrate peacefully for voting rights of black citizens of Alabama. Antona's story is unique in that she, as a sister of color, brings another dimension and perspective to the issue of racial problems and opens up another avenue to our understanding of an important time in American history. Antona's story of the journey to Selma is a poignant account of the experiences of one who was usually cloistered from the events of the secular world. When she heard of the events of Bloody Sunday and the vicious attacks on the Pettus Bridge from her employees at the hospital where she worked, she commented, "If it weren't for all of this [her religious habit and her responsibility to her order] I would be there myself." Little did she know that within twenty-four hours she would not only be face-to-face with the hostile white supremacist forces of Alabama, but a spokesperson for the demonstrators.