Grace Will Lead Us Home: the Charleston church massacre and the hard, inspiring journey to forgiveness by Jennifer Berry Hawes, 311 pages
This is a reporter's extended and behind-the-scenes account of the terrorist attack that killed nine black congregants in their church on June 17, 2015. Dylann Roof posted pictures of himself with a confederate flag and other white nationalist symbols, told a friend of his intent to murder black church people, posted a white nationalist manifesto, drove to the church, joined and was welcomed by the pastor and members of a bible study held at Mother Emmanuel AME Church, and then, late in the meeting, brandished his gun and killed Myra Thompson who was in the process of ordination and was leading the study for the first time, Pastor & State Senator Clementa Pinckney and seven others.
Most of the above is common knowledge along with the public confrontation and courtroom forgiveness initiated by Nadine Collier, daughter of Ethel Lance, who Dylann Roof had murdered and President Obama's eulogy for Senator/Pastor Pinckney, where he broke forth into "Amazing Grace." What is less know are the stories of Steve Hurd and others who could not forgive, the survivor's struggles to forgive members of their own family, the questions about subsequent church leadership, concerns about Emmanuel leadership's handing of financial donations, the personal and institutional difficulties of the church and its members in moving forward, the history of generations of the church members and leaders -- which included co-founder by Denmark Vesey who planned a massacre to throw off the yoke of slavery but was hung himself in July of 1822 along with 35 others. Such real life stories fill out the headlines and the transitory news and help us to have some understanding of the deep pain, struggles and history of the June 2015 massacre in Charleston.
Most of the above is common knowledge along with the public confrontation and courtroom forgiveness initiated by Nadine Collier, daughter of Ethel Lance, who Dylann Roof had murdered and President Obama's eulogy for Senator/Pastor Pinckney, where he broke forth into "Amazing Grace." What is less know are the stories of Steve Hurd and others who could not forgive, the survivor's struggles to forgive members of their own family, the questions about subsequent church leadership, concerns about Emmanuel leadership's handing of financial donations, the personal and institutional difficulties of the church and its members in moving forward, the history of generations of the church members and leaders -- which included co-founder by Denmark Vesey who planned a massacre to throw off the yoke of slavery but was hung himself in July of 1822 along with 35 others. Such real life stories fill out the headlines and the transitory news and help us to have some understanding of the deep pain, struggles and history of the June 2015 massacre in Charleston.
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