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Ruby Sales

Founder & Director of The SpiritHouse Project

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Ruby Sales Biography

Ruby Nell Sales is a nationally-recognized human-rights activist, public theologian, and social critic, whose articles and work appear in many journals, online sites, and books. Under the tutelage of Professor Jean Wiley, Sales joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960’s as a teenager at Tuskegee University and went to work as a student freedom fighter in Lowndes County, Alabama. There, she worked with Bob Mants, Gloria Larry, Janet Moses, Jimmy Rogers, Willie Vaughn, and local people that included Clara Maul and John Huelett.

In August 1965, Sales, along with other SNCC workers, joined young people from Fort Deposit, Alabama, who organized a demonstration to protest the actions of the local White grocery store owners who had cheated their parents. The group was arrested and held in jail and then suddenly released. Jonathan Daniels, a White seminarian and freedom worker from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts was assassinated as he pulled Sales out of the line of fire, when they attempted to enter Cash Grocery Store to buy sodas for other freedom workers who were released from jail. Tom Coleman also shot and deeply wounded Father Richard Morrisroe, a priest from Chicago. Despite threats of violence, Sales was determined to attend the trial of Daniels' murderer, Tom Coleman, and to testify on behalf of her slain colleague. Coleman was acquitted by a jury of all white peers.

As a social activist, Sales has served on many committees to further the work of racial, sexual, gender, and class reconciliation, education, and awareness. She has served on the Steering Committee for International Women's Day, Washington, D.C.; the James Porter Colloquium Committee, Howard University, Washington, D.C.; the Coordinating Committee, People's Coalition, Washington, D.C.; the President's Committee On Race, University of Maryland; and the Coalition on Violence Against Women, Amnesty International, Washington, D.C. She was a founding member of Sage Magazine: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women. Sales received a Certificate of Gratitude for her work on Eyes on the Prize. Additionally, she was featured in Broken Ground: A Film on Race Relations in the South, by Broken Ground Productions. From 1991-1994, Sales founded and directed the national nonprofit organization Women of All Colors, dedicated to improving the overall quality of life for women, their families, and the communities in which they live. Women of All Colors organized a week-long SisterSpeak that brought more than 80 Black women together to set a national agenda.

Sales has preached around the country and spoken at national conferences on race, class, gender, and reconciliation. She has done groundbreaking work on community and non-violence formation and served as a national convener of the Every Church A Peace Church Movement. Sales has attended and earned degrees from Tuskegee Institute, Manhattanville College, and Princeton University. Most recently, in 1998, she received a Masters of Divinity from the Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she specialized in Feminist, African-American, and Liberation Theologies, with an emphasis on race, class, and gender issues. While in Divinity School, she served on a city-wide Ecumenical Task Force on Prison Reform, in Boston; the Steering Committee on Wheelock College's national conference, Race and Racism in the 90's: Teaching and Living Social Justice; the Brookline Race Relations Council, and the student representative to the EDS Board of Trustees Committee. Sales was the Absalom Jones Scholar while at Divinity School and received the Social Justice Award upon graduation.

In 1999, Selma, Alabama gave Sales the key to the city to honor her contributions there. In 2000, Dan Rather spotlighted Sales on his “American Dream” Segment. In 2007, Sales moved to Columbus, Georgia, where she organized: a southern summit on racism; a national write-in campaign to save Albany State from being merged into a White college; a grassroots and media campaign to shed light on the death of 17-year-old Billye Jo Johnson, who allegedly killed himself on a dark road in Lucedale, Mississippi when a deputy stopped him for speeding; Long Train Running Towards Justice, which celebrated the work of Black teachers during segregation and explored the ways that the Black school culture has been destroyed by White officials, under the guise of desegregation and a meeting with students at Savannah State to assist them in organizing and mobilizing a move by officials to merge Savannah State with a White college. In 2009, the national HistoryMakers organization named her a HistoryMaker for her contributions to civic affairs. The Veterans of Hope Project selected her to be a part of its video series, and her video “Standing Against the Wind” has been shown around the nation.

Always a sturdy and consistent advocate for racial justice, for people of color, lesbians and gays, women, and seniors, Sales has made the struggle for racial justice one of the centerpieces of her work. Her recent body of work on racism and racial justice includes encounters with the York County (PA) NAACP, Mennonites, Every Church A Peace Church, Servant Leadership School, Washington Cathedral, New Hampshire Supreme Court Association, and Goshen College. Sales organized a press conference with local women in Los Angeles to protest the slander of Black women by Don Imus.

Sales' team taught a course on movement history at Morehouse College in the fall of 2012 with Vincent Harding on “Martin Luther King Jr. - After the March on Washington.” She also served as a Field Education Teacher and supervised the co-curricular work of an ITC seminary student. In August 2013, Sales was awarded the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference Living Legacies Civil Rights Recognition Award. In April 2014, Sales was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College.

Throughout her career, Sales has mentored young people and provided support and venues for an intergenerational community of developing and seasoned social justice performing and creative artists. Sales has a deep commitment to providing the education, practical experiences, and frame of references to contest racism and add their voices to the public conversations on the many streams of oppression that emerge from them.

Presently, Sales serves as the founder and director of the SpiritHouse Project. The SpiritHouse Project is a national nonprofit organization that uses the arts, research, education, action, and spirituality to bring diverse peoples together to work for racial, economic, and social justice, as well as for spiritual maturity. SpiritHouse roots its work today in exposing the extrajudicial murders of African-Americans by White vigilantes and police.

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FAQs
  • How do I book Ruby Sales to speak at my event?

    Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Ruby Sales for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for Ruby Sales, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for Ruby Sales or any other speaker of your choice.
  • What are the speaker fees for Ruby Sales

    Speaking fees for Ruby Sales, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book Ruby Sales are available upon request for live events and available upon request for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire Ruby Sales, click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.
  • What topics does Ruby Sales speak about?

    Ruby Sales is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Activism, Black History, Diversity Speakers, Education, LGBTQ, Political Speakers, Social Justice.
  • Where does Ruby Sales travel from?

    Ruby Sales generally travels from Washington, DC, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.
  • Who is Ruby Sales’s agent?

    AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully booked keynote speakers like Ruby Sales for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Ruby Sales for your next private or corporate function.
  • What is a full-service speaker booking agency?

    AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host Ruby Sales or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.
  • Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?

    If you’re looking for the best, unbiased speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.
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This website is a resource for event professionals and strives to provide the most comprehensive catalog of thought leaders and industry experts to consider for speaking engagements. A listing or profile on this website does not imply an agency affiliation or endorsement by the talent.

All American Entertainment (AAE) exclusively represents the interests of talent buyers, and does not claim to be the agency or management for any speaker or artist on this site. AAE is a talent booking agency for paid events only. We do not handle requests for donation of time or media requests for interviews, and cannot provide celebrity contact information.

If you are the talent and wish to request a profile update or removal from our online directory, please submit a profile request form.

Founder & Director of The SpiritHouse Project

Travels From:
Washington, DC, USA
Speaking Fee:

Ruby Sales Biography

Ruby Nell Sales is a nationally-recognized human-rights activist, public theologian, and social critic, whose articles and work appear in many journals, online sites, and books. Under the tutelage of Professor Jean Wiley, Sales joined the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in the 1960’s as a teenager at Tuskegee University and went to work as a student freedom fighter in Lowndes County, Alabama. There, she worked with Bob Mants, Gloria Larry, Janet Moses, Jimmy Rogers, Willie Vaughn, and local people that included Clara Maul and John Huelett.

In August 1965, Sales, along with other SNCC workers, joined young people from Fort Deposit, Alabama, who organized a demonstration to protest the actions of the local White grocery store owners who had cheated their parents. The group was arrested and held in jail and then suddenly released. Jonathan Daniels, a White seminarian and freedom worker from Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, Massachusetts was assassinated as he pulled Sales out of the line of fire, when they attempted to enter Cash Grocery Store to buy sodas for other freedom workers who were released from jail. Tom Coleman also shot and deeply wounded Father Richard Morrisroe, a priest from Chicago. Despite threats of violence, Sales was determined to attend the trial of Daniels' murderer, Tom Coleman, and to testify on behalf of her slain colleague. Coleman was acquitted by a jury of all white peers.

As a social activist, Sales has served on many committees to further the work of racial, sexual, gender, and class reconciliation, education, and awareness. She has served on the Steering Committee for International Women's Day, Washington, D.C.; the James Porter Colloquium Committee, Howard University, Washington, D.C.; the Coordinating Committee, People's Coalition, Washington, D.C.; the President's Committee On Race, University of Maryland; and the Coalition on Violence Against Women, Amnesty International, Washington, D.C. She was a founding member of Sage Magazine: A Scholarly Journal on Black Women. Sales received a Certificate of Gratitude for her work on Eyes on the Prize. Additionally, she was featured in Broken Ground: A Film on Race Relations in the South, by Broken Ground Productions. From 1991-1994, Sales founded and directed the national nonprofit organization Women of All Colors, dedicated to improving the overall quality of life for women, their families, and the communities in which they live. Women of All Colors organized a week-long SisterSpeak that brought more than 80 Black women together to set a national agenda.

Sales has preached around the country and spoken at national conferences on race, class, gender, and reconciliation. She has done groundbreaking work on community and non-violence formation and served as a national convener of the Every Church A Peace Church Movement. Sales has attended and earned degrees from Tuskegee Institute, Manhattanville College, and Princeton University. Most recently, in 1998, she received a Masters of Divinity from the Episcopal Divinity School (EDS) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where she specialized in Feminist, African-American, and Liberation Theologies, with an emphasis on race, class, and gender issues. While in Divinity School, she served on a city-wide Ecumenical Task Force on Prison Reform, in Boston; the Steering Committee on Wheelock College's national conference, Race and Racism in the 90's: Teaching and Living Social Justice; the Brookline Race Relations Council, and the student representative to the EDS Board of Trustees Committee. Sales was the Absalom Jones Scholar while at Divinity School and received the Social Justice Award upon graduation.

In 1999, Selma, Alabama gave Sales the key to the city to honor her contributions there. In 2000, Dan Rather spotlighted Sales on his “American Dream” Segment. In 2007, Sales moved to Columbus, Georgia, where she organized: a southern summit on racism; a national write-in campaign to save Albany State from being merged into a White college; a grassroots and media campaign to shed light on the death of 17-year-old Billye Jo Johnson, who allegedly killed himself on a dark road in Lucedale, Mississippi when a deputy stopped him for speeding; Long Train Running Towards Justice, which celebrated the work of Black teachers during segregation and explored the ways that the Black school culture has been destroyed by White officials, under the guise of desegregation and a meeting with students at Savannah State to assist them in organizing and mobilizing a move by officials to merge Savannah State with a White college. In 2009, the national HistoryMakers organization named her a HistoryMaker for her contributions to civic affairs. The Veterans of Hope Project selected her to be a part of its video series, and her video “Standing Against the Wind” has been shown around the nation.

Always a sturdy and consistent advocate for racial justice, for people of color, lesbians and gays, women, and seniors, Sales has made the struggle for racial justice one of the centerpieces of her work. Her recent body of work on racism and racial justice includes encounters with the York County (PA) NAACP, Mennonites, Every Church A Peace Church, Servant Leadership School, Washington Cathedral, New Hampshire Supreme Court Association, and Goshen College. Sales organized a press conference with local women in Los Angeles to protest the slander of Black women by Don Imus.

Sales' team taught a course on movement history at Morehouse College in the fall of 2012 with Vincent Harding on “Martin Luther King Jr. - After the March on Washington.” She also served as a Field Education Teacher and supervised the co-curricular work of an ITC seminary student. In August 2013, Sales was awarded the Samuel DeWitt Proctor Conference Living Legacies Civil Rights Recognition Award. In April 2014, Sales was inducted into the Martin Luther King Jr. Board of Preachers at Morehouse College.

Throughout her career, Sales has mentored young people and provided support and venues for an intergenerational community of developing and seasoned social justice performing and creative artists. Sales has a deep commitment to providing the education, practical experiences, and frame of references to contest racism and add their voices to the public conversations on the many streams of oppression that emerge from them.

Presently, Sales serves as the founder and director of the SpiritHouse Project. The SpiritHouse Project is a national nonprofit organization that uses the arts, research, education, action, and spirituality to bring diverse peoples together to work for racial, economic, and social justice, as well as for spiritual maturity. SpiritHouse roots its work today in exposing the extrajudicial murders of African-Americans by White vigilantes and police.

Ruby Sales Videos

  • How we can start to heal the pain of racial division | Ruby Sales
    "Where does it hurt?" It's a question that activist and educator Ruby Sales has traveled the US asking, looking deeply at the country's legacy of...
  • Ruby Sales: Caravans to the Borderlands Discussion
    Caravans to the Borderlands What We Must Know with Ruby Sales and Jacqui Lewis To learn more about Middle Church visit: ...
  • Ruby Sales - Every One of Us
    Virginia Foundation for the Humanities is proud to present civil rights icon and public theologian Ruby Sales in a conversation with Charles ...

FAQs on booking Ruby Sales

  • How do I book Ruby Sales to speak at my event?

    Our experienced booking agents have successfully helped clients around the world secure speakers like Ruby Sales for speaking engagements, personal appearances, product endorsements, or corporate entertainment since 2002. Click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page to check availability for Ruby Sales, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to discuss your upcoming event. One of our experienced agents will be happy to help you get speaking fee information and check availability for Ruby Sales or any other speaker of your choice.
  • What are the speaker fees for Ruby Sales

    Speaking fees for Ruby Sales, or any other speakers and celebrities, are determined based on a number of factors and may change without notice. The estimated fees to book Ruby Sales are available upon request for live events and available upon request for virtual events. For the most current speaking fee to hire Ruby Sales, click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536 to speak directly with an experienced booking agent.
  • What topics does Ruby Sales speak about?

    Ruby Sales is a keynote speaker and industry expert whose speaking topics include Activism, Black History, Diversity Speakers, Education, LGBTQ, Political Speakers, Social Justice.
  • Where does Ruby Sales travel from?

    Ruby Sales generally travels from Washington, DC, USA, but can be booked for private corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. For more details, please contact an AAE Booking agent.
  • Who is Ruby Sales’s agent?

    AAE Speakers Bureau has successfully booked keynote speakers like Ruby Sales for clients worldwide since 2002. As a full-service speaker booking agency, we have access to virtually any speaker or celebrity in the world. Our agents are happy and able to submit an offer to the speaker or celebrity of your choice, letting you benefit from our reputation and long-standing relationships in the industry. Please click the Check Availability button above and complete the form on this page including the details of your event, or call our office at 1.800.698.2536, and one of our agents will assist you to book Ruby Sales for your next private or corporate function.
  • What is a full-service speaker booking agency?

    AAE Speakers Bureau is a full-service speaker booking agency, meaning we can completely manage the speaker’s or celebrity’s engagement with your organization from the time of booking your speaker through the event’s completion. We provide all of the services you need to host Ruby Sales or any other speaker of your choice, including offer negotiation, contractual assistance, accounting and billing, and event speaker travel and logistics services. When you book a speaker with us, we manage the process of hosting a speaker for you as an extension of your team. Our goal is to give our clients peace of mind and a best-in-class service experience when booking a speaker with us.
  • Why is AAE Speakers Bureau different from other booking agencies?

    If you’re looking for the best, unbiased speaker recommendations, paired with a top-notch customer service experience, you’re in the right place. At AAE Speakers Bureau, we exclusively represent the interests of our clients - professional organizations, companies, universities, and associations. We intentionally do not represent the speakers we feature or book. That is so we can present our clients with the broadest and best performing set of speaker options in the market today, and we can make these recommendations without any obligation to promote a specific speaker over another. This is why when our agents suggest a speaker for your event, you can be assured that they are of the highest quality with a history of proven success with our other clients.

Ruby Sales is a keynote speaker and industry expert who speaks on a wide range of topics . The estimated speaking fee range to book Ruby Sales for your event is available upon request. Ruby Sales generally travels from Washington, DC, USA and can be booked for (private) corporate events, personal appearances, keynote speeches, or other performances. Similar motivational celebrity speakers are Charlene Carruthers, Janet Mock, Nikki Giovanni, Munroe Bergdorf and Blair Imani. Contact All American Speakers for ratings, reviews, videos and information on scheduling Ruby Sales for an upcoming live or virtual event.

Ruby Sales Speaker Videos

  • How we can start to heal the pain of racial division | Ruby Sales
    "Where does it hurt?" It's a question that activist and educator Ruby Sales has traveled the US asking, looking deeply at the country's legacy of racism and searching for sources of healing. In this...
    Ruby Sales: Caravans to the Borderlands Discussion
    Caravans to the Borderlands What We Must Know with Ruby Sales and Jacqui Lewis To learn more about Middle Church visit: ...
  • Ruby Sales - Every One of Us
    Virginia Foundation for the Humanities is proud to present civil rights icon and public theologian Ruby Sales in a conversation with Charles ...
    Ruby Sales Master Class
    On November 29 civil rights icon and public theologian Ruby Sales, joined Wes Gobar, president of the UVA Black Student Alliance, for a ...
  • Spiritual Activism: A Conversation with Ruby Sales
    Ruby Sales has been working for civil rights and racial justice since she was a 17 -year-old organizer for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating ...

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During normal business hours, we respond to most inquiries within 4 hours.

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Speakers Similar to Ruby Sales

This website is a resource for event professionals and strives to provide the most comprehensive catalog of thought leaders and industry experts to consider for speaking engagements. A listing or profile on this website does not imply an agency affiliation or endorsement by the talent.

All American Entertainment (AAE) exclusively represents the interests of talent buyers, and does not claim to be the agency or management for any speaker or artist on this site. AAE is a talent booking agency for paid events only. We do not handle requests for donation of time or media requests for interviews, and cannot provide celebrity contact information.

If you are the talent and wish to request a profile update or removal from our online directory, please submit a profile request form.

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