01-06-2025
A Soaring History of Mother Emanuel, the Church That Endured a Massacre
MOTHER EMANUEL: Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church, by Kevin Sack
'Mother Emanuel' is a masterpiece in which Kevin Sack tells the story of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) Church in Charleston, S.C., 'the most historic Black church in the South's most historic city,' now best known as the site of an egregious act of barbarism: the killing of nine congregants on June 17, 2015, by a white supremacist.
Sack, a former reporter for The New York Times, delivers a dense, rich, captivating narrative, featuring vivid prose, prodigious research and a palpable emotional engagement that is disciplined by a meticulous attention to the facts. His excavation is an essential addition to existing histories and ought to be recognized as a singular journalistic performance.
The book begins with two gripping chapters that describe the setting in which the murders transpired. On Wednesday evenings, devout parishioners gathered at Emanuel for Bible study. On this occasion, the study session began late because another meeting had run over. If the Bible study had begun on time, it is likely that no one would have been present when the mass murderer arrived. As it turned out, 12 participants stuck around despite the delay, heat, fatigue and hunger.
At 8:16 p.m. (thanks to surveillance cameras, the precise time is known), 21-year-old Dylann Roof walked into the church. Welcomed by the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Emanuel's dynamic 41-year-old pastor, he was given a Bible and a study guide. He sat silently for about 45 minutes before suddenly brandishing a semiautomatic handgun filled with hollow-point bullets with which he methodically shot nine of the worshipers. Among those murdered were 87-year-old Susie Jackson, who was penetrated by at least 10 rounds; Cynthia Hurd, a librarian who had planned to skip the session but stayed at the urging of a friend; Tywanza Sanders, who died next to his mother after asking the gunman, 'Man, why are you doing this?'; Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, a minister, speech pathologist and high school track coach; and Pinckney, who was also a state senator.
Roof was apprehended the next day. He made no effort to hide what he had done, stated that his purpose was to initiate a white rebellion against what he saw as African American domination, and refused to permit his defense team to argue that mental instability had played any role in his actions. He was sentenced to death on federal hate crime charges and to nine life sentences on corresponding state charges.
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