We are Charleston-Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emmanuel: A Review

June 17, 2015, 9:05 p.m.

Mother Emanuel AME Church A Young white man opens fire at a prayer meeting, killing nine people.

What happened in Charleston that night was an assault on humanity, and what has happened since has implications that echo far beyond South Carolina. The fatal shooting at Mother Emmanuel AME Church opened up a deep wound that still permeates Southern institutions and remains part of American society. We Are Charleston not only recounts the events of that terrible day but also offers a history lesson that reveals a deeper look at the sufferings and triumphs of the people who formed Mother Emmanuel and the wider denominational movement

In many ways the church’s story is America’s story. Emanuel is the oldest AME church in the Deep South, fighting for freedom and civil rights but also fighting for grace and understanding---fighting to transcend bigotry, fraud, hatred, racism, poverty and misery.

We Are Charleston searches the storied history of the AME Church as way of  explaining the price and power of forgiveness, a way of revealing God’s mercy in the midst of tremendous pain

At the bond hearing for the killer family members and friends expressed Christian forgiveness.;

“We have no room for hate so we have to forgive.”

“I want everyone to know, … I forgive you.”

“You hurt a lot of people, but I forgive you.”

“May God have mercy on you.”

Emotional, careful and rich, We Are Charleston makes sense of the senseless, the Charleston, South Carolina, massacre of June 2015. From one abominable event the book shapes a testament, an investigation, and a history.

We Are Charleston sets the crime within the flow of race, church life, and Southern history, and offers moving portraits of the victims. It does the near impossible, which is to redeem tragedy on behalf of hope.

As I have heard it said many times; “What we are not up on we are don on.” This book very definitely helped me to understand more of the history that has developed such sad result of the racism manifested especially in the United States.

I recommend this book for any who are ready to understand a little more.  I believe that this book can help all who read it to grow in their relationships with others.

Check with your book store to purchase a copy of this book or order on line from Amazon.com or click on this link here.