Like many Americans I have been reading about the events that unfolded in Charleston, SC. The attack at Emanuel AME Church is tragic and outrageous. Read about the victims for yourself. Follow Broderick Greer, Mackenzian, Wil Gafney and others on Twitter to hear from Black Americans sharing their pain, insight, and rage over this most recent attack on Black lives, one of many in a string of violence against Black people on the streets, in custody, and at a pool party.
As I posted on my Facebook Wall:
This is a day of mourning in the USA for those killed through a hate crime against Black citizens. This was a terrorist act perpetuated in an historic landmark that has been a site of on-going Black justice work and of white supremacist violence in the past. This was the assassination of an elected official who through his office spoke out in support of health care, putting people over politics.
Reading the stories of some of victims is heartbreaking. It also is absolutely rage worthy. The nation was outraged on 911 and with the Boston Marathon bombings because foreign-born terrorists attacked on US soil. Be outraged that a white American attacked Black citizens in this brazen act of white supremacy. .
As a white American Christian man, I choose to expose and oppose white supremacy. Be angry and mourn. And stand with the #BlackLivesMatter Movement
Here is information about some the victims of the attack that have been confirmed. ABC reports on the victims here:
A mother of three, reverend, and high school track coach, Sharonda Coleman-Singleton was killed while attending a prayer group at Emanuel AME Church.
Tywanza Sanders was a recent graduate of Allen University in Columbia and had most recently been working at a barber shop.
“He was a quiet, well known student who was committed to his education,” Dr. Flavia Eldemire, vice president of Institutional Advancement at Allen University, said in a statement.
“He presented a warm and helpful spirit as he interacted with his colleagues.”
The call to preach came early for Rev. Clementa Pinckney, who was one of the nine victims fatally shot Wednesday night when a gunman opened fire inside the Emanuel AME church in Charleston, South Carolina. He was also a state senator in South Carolina.
Cynthia Hurd, a librarian, was killed in the shooting, the Charleston County Public Library (CCPL), confirmed Thursday.
Hurd worked at the public library for 31 years and was serving as the manager at St. Andrews Regional library since 2011.
Depayne Middleton-Doctor, 49, was also one of the victims of the shooting, coroner Rae Wooten confirmed at a press conference on Thursday. The minister was a mother of four daughters. She sang in the church’s choir and spoke at the pulpit with Rev. Pinckney, the Post and Courier reported.
Susie Jackson, 87, was also a victim of the attack, the coroner confirmed. She was a member of the Eastern Light Chapter No. 360 Order of the Eastern Star, according to a community activist on Twitter
Another woman, named Myra Thompson, was killed at the church, where a bible study group was meeting Wednesday night. Thompson’s daughter Denise Quarles confirmed that her mother died and declined to comment further.
Ethel Lee Lance, a sexton at the church, was also killed in the shooting, confirmed her daughter Rev. Sharon Rischer. “Granny was the heart of the family,” her grandson Jon Quil Lance told The Post and Courieroutside Medical University Hospital. She had worked at the church for more than 30 years, he told the newspaper. “She’s a Christian, hardworking; I could call my granny for anything. I don’t have anyone else like that,” he said.
Daniel L. Simmons, a retired pastor from another church in Charleston, died in the shooting, his daughter-in-law, Arcelia Simmons of Newport News, Virginia, confirmed. Simmons attended Emanuel AME Church every Sunday for services and Wednesdays for bible study, she said.
Be angry and mourn. And stand with the #BlackLivesMatter Movement.
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