On Wednesday night [June, 17th] , Dylann Roof [ 21 year old white man] walked into a prayer meeting at Charleston’s Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the oldest black churches in the South, and killed nine people . According to reports and eye witness survivors, Roof sat and listened to pastor Clementa Pinckney, who is also a South Carolina state senator then he opened fire, killing Pinckney and eight others as they concluded bible study with a prayer circle.
Sylvia Johnson, a cousin of one of the victims [whose life was spared] says that Roof reloaded his weapon five times, and told her ” I have to do it. …, You rape our women, and you’re taking over our country. And you have to go.”
9 Things to Know About Charleston Church Shooting Victim Rev. Clementa Pinckney
Other victims of this horrific tragedy include:
Tywanza Sanders, 26 was a recent graduate of Allen University, South Carolina. He is remembered as a warm and helpful spirit who interacted with his colleagues. Sanders reportedly jumped in front of his
Myra Thompson, 59 was the wife of reverend Anthony Thompson was a vicar at Holy Trinity REC
Cynthia Hurd, 54 a librarian at the Charleston County Public Library [CCPL]. Hurd worked at the public library for 31 years.
Depayne Middleton Doctor, 49 was also a minister at the church and sang on the choir. Doctor is a mother of four daughters.
Suzie Jackson, 87. Suzie paid a visit to see her great-grand kids just two weeks ago. She is remembered as sweet-soul.
Daniel Lee Simmons, 74 was a reverend at AME and was weekly attendee for Bible Study sessions .
Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, 45 was a mother of three, high school track, and reverend of the AME church.
TheAtlantic.com writes:
” There are 1,510 identifiable people of color who hold political office in the south during Reconstruction. Disproportionately, they are veterans—and the largest single group, 243, are ministers.
For whites who don’t want to share political power, the churches become the targets. You can stop political movements through terror and through violence. One black congressman at the time, Robert Smalls, estimates 53,000 black political activists have been assassinated. That’s more than the people who died at Gettysburg.
A Methodist minister from Charleston, Benjamin Franklin Randolph, is assassinated in 1868 as he gets on a train. He was a state senator. It is not a coincidence that Clementa Pinckney, the minister who was killed yesterday, was also in the state senate. It’s the old mixture in South Carolina of religion and politics. “
And yet the Confederate Flag [a symbol of violence, white supremacy, and dominance] is not laid to rest!
Let us remember that one of the most egregious terrorists acts in U.S history was committed against a black baptist church in Burmingham, Alabama in 1963 where four girls were killed by members of the KKK. The tragedy ignited the Civil Rights movement.
Booker T. Washington spoke at AME in 1909, Dr. King spoke at the AME church in 1962 and Coretta Scott King spoke in 1969. Ironically, June 17th marks the date that free slave Denmark Vesey reportedly planned the slave revolt. Due to the historical significance of the AME church [also known as ‘Mother Emanuel’ ], this recent ‘terrorist’ attack was of no accident.
The AME church is known as the landmark and refuge for ‘free slave’ and ‘abolitionist’ Denmark Vesey. Vesey, a native of West Africa who brought his freedom for $600 dollars after winning a $1,500 Charleston lottery. But Vesey’s vision was to see all of his brothers and sisters ‘free’ of enslavement, so he often preached the Old testament, and Book Of Exodus at AME and his home to his fellow kinmen reminding them of their ‘Hebrew Israelite’ history, and how the children of Israel were led out of Egypt from bondage.
Vesey organized a slave rebellion that was to take place on July 14th – ‘Bastille Day’ [which was historic for the French Revolution], but their plan would not be fulfilled because a slave revealed to his master Vesey’s and his co-conspirators plot and Vesey and 34 other slaves were hanged. The church was also burned down in 1822. In 1835 the church was rebuilt by Vesey’s son, Robert Vesey.
” The World Is A Dangerous Place To Live,
Not Because Of The People Who Are Evil
But Because Of The People Who Don’t Do Anything About it “
As a people we must emancipate ourselves from ‘mental slavery’ and free our minds. When you think of the U.S. second amendment [the right to bear arms] it’s important that each of us think of our lives, our children, our families, and our communities and the right to protect the value of it.
Related article:
Shooters of color are called ‘terrorists’ and ‘thugs.’ Why are white shooters called ‘mentally ill’?
We Need To Talk About White Culture!
Our hearts and prayers are with the victims families of this horrific hate crime. One Love.