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Associated Press
10 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
Charleston Literary Festival Reveals First Sneak Peek of Speakers for November—Just in Time for Summer Reading Lists
The star-studded announcement for Charleston Literary Festival 2025 features literary giants Joyce Carol Oates, Colum McCann, Michael Cunningham, Viet Thanh Nguyen, Glory Edim, Maggie Smith, and more Charleston Literary Festival is thrilled to announce today the first 17 of the 50+ acclaimed authors who will feature onstage at this year's Charleston Literary Festival, set to take place from November 7–16, 2025. All Festival events will take place at the historic Dock Street Theatre in the heart of Downtown Charleston. Named 'the best literary festival in the United States' (Richard Ford), and 'the standard to which all literary festivals should be held' (Michele Norris), this year's Charleston Literary Festival lineup is the most ambitious yet with more authors and events than ever before. These 17 authors are just a hint of what's to come for the Festival in November—the full schedule will be announced on September 4. First 17 Speakers for Charleston Literary Festival 2025 Kevin Sack with Eddie S. Glaude Jr. on " Mother Emanuel: Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church,' featuring a special performance by the Mother Emanuel Choir Mother Emanuela masterpiece Sack, a former reporter, has spent the past ten years writing the 200-year history of Mother Emanuel, calling it 'the most historic Black church in the South's most historic city.' His remarkable book tells the full story of this church that captured the world's attention due to the grace of its congregation and their capacity for forgiveness in the face of a horrific attack. At Charleston Literary Festival 2025, Sack will be in conversation with bestselling author Eddie S. Glaude Jr., professor of African American studies at Princeton University. On 'Mother Emanuel,' Glaude writes that 'race, religion, and terror combine for an extraordinary story of America.' The event will be introduced by the Rev. Eric S. C. Manning, senior pastor at Mother Emanuel. Following the conversation, the Mother Emanuel Choir, under the musical direction of Dr. Wayne Singleton, will sing a choral program that reflects the 200-year history of the church. Combining an in-depth discussion of Kevin Sack's book with Mother Emanuel Choir's rich musical tradition, this community-focused event will be an unmissable occasion. Joyce Carol Oates on " Fox ' Widely considered one of the greatest living writers in North America and five-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, Joyce Carol Oates will discuss her latest novel, " Fox,' that centers on Francis Fox, a charming English teacher at an elite boarding school who goes missing. A hypnotic tale of crime and complicity, 'Fox' illuminates the darkest corners of the human psyche while asking moral questions about justice and the response that evil demands. A character as magnetically diabolical as Patricia Highsmith's Tom Ripley and Vladimir Nabokov's Humbert Humbert, Francis Fox enchants and manipulates nearly everyone around him, until at last he meets someone he can't outfox. Max Boot on " Reagan: His Life and Legend' Historian, bestselling author, and foreign-policy analyst, Max Boot, joins us to discuss his instant New York Times bestseller, " Reagan: His Life and Legend.' Boot is the author of The Road Not Taken, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Biography. Reagan illuminates the untold story of Ronald Reagan—revealing the man behind the mythology. Drawing on interviews with over one hundred of the 40th president's aides, friends, and family members, as well as thousands of newly available documents, Boot provides 'the best biography of Ronald Reagan to date,' according to Robert Mann. Colum McCann on " Twist ' National Book Award Winning author of 'Let The Great World Spin' (among other novels and nonfiction books), Colum McCann is the recipient of major literary awards including the Chevalier des arts et lettres by the French government. McCann is joining us to discuss his latest novel, " Twist.' Called an 'urgent [and] ingenious' by The New York Times Book Review, the book is a novel of rupture and repair in the digital age. Resoundingly simple and turbulent at the same time, 'Twist' is a meditation on the nature of narrative and truth from one of the greatest storytellers of our time. Viet Thanh Nguyen, " To Save And To Destroy ' From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of 'The Sympathizer' comes an unflinchingly personal meditation on literary forms of otherness. Born in war-ravaged Vietnam, Viet Thanh Nguyen arrived in the United States as a child refugee in 1975. After his family moved to California, the author attended UC Berkeley in the aftermath of the shocking murder of Vincent Chin, which shaped the political sensibilities of a new generation of Asian Americans. Composed of six chapters, " To Save and To Destroy " moves through writers who have influenced Nguyen the most: namely, Herman Melville, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ralph Ellison, William Carlos Williams, and Maxine Hong Kingston. These essays, originally delivered as the prestigious Norton Lectures, proffer a new answer to a classic literary question of an outsider's role in literature while positing a new question: What is a writer's responsibility in a time of violence? Glory Edim on " Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me ' Founder of Well-Read Black Girl, a nationwide literary movement created to highlight the richness and diversity of Black women in literature. Glory Edim's works include 'The Well-Read Black Girl Anthology,' which was nominated for an NAACP Image Award and named a Best Book of the Year in 2018 by Library Journal. At the Festival this year, Edim will discuss her latest book " Gather Me: A Memoir in Praise of the Books That Saved Me.' Called a 'dramatic [and] ingeniously crafted' by the Los Angeles Times, the book is a memoir of family, community, and resilience, and an ode to the power of books to help us understand ourselves. Dalloway 100: Michael Cunningham In celebration of 100 years since the publication of Virginia Woolf's 'Mrs. Dalloway,' Charleston Literary Festival is presenting a special session featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning author of " The Hours,' Michael Cunningham, discussing the enduring power and relevance of Mrs. Dalloway. This event calls back to Charleston Literary Festival's origins in the Charleston House in Sussex in the UK—which was the creative home of the Bloomsbury writers and thinkers, including Virgina Woolf and her sister, Vanessa Bell. Two of the co-founders of Charleston Literary Festival—Debo Gage and Diana Reich—are also the founders of the Charleston Festival in the UK, which has been running for over 30 years. Katie Kitamura on " Audition ' Author of 'Intimacies,' which was named one of The New York Times 10 Best Books of 2021, longlisted for the National Book Award and the PEN/Faulkner Award, Katie Kitamura will join us to discuss her dazzling, destabilizing novel, " Audition.' In this 'tightly wound family drama that reads like a psychological thriller' (NPR), two competing narratives unspool, rewriting our understanding of the roles we play every day— partner, parent, creator, muse—and the truths every performance masks, especially from those who think they know us most intimately. Bill McKibben, " Here Comes The Sun: A Last Chance for the Climate and a Fresh Chance for Civilization ' Environmentalist, activist, and author of the groundbreaking book 'The End of Nature,' Bill McKibben joins us to present his latest book, " Here Comes The Sun.' The book shines a light on the rapid growth of affordable solar and wind power and how this innovation unlocks possibilities for positive environmental change. 'No one has done more to raise the alarm about climate change or to address the problem than Bill McKibben. In 'Here Comes the Sun,' he shows that we all have the technologies we need to move forward. If any book could make a thinking person hopeful about the future, this is it,' said Elizabeth Kolbert. Maggie Smith on " Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life ' New York Times bestselling poet and author of the much-loved poetry collection 'Good Bones,' Maggie Smith joins us to discuss creativity and the craft of writing in her newest book, " Dear Writer: Pep Talks & Practical Advice for the Creative Life.' Drawing from her twenty years of teaching experience, Maggie Smith breaks down creativity into ten essential elements: attention, wonder, vision, play, surprise, vulnerability, restlessness, tenacity, connection, and hope. 'Dear Writer' provides tools that artists of all experience levels can apply to their own creative practices and carry with them into all genres and all areas of life. David Szalay on " Flesh ' Booker Prize finalist, Hungarian-English author David Szalay will be joining us at the Festival this year to discuss his propulsive and hypnotic new novel, " Flesh.' Named 'the shrewdest writer on contemporary masculinity we have' by Esquire, 'Flesh' captures a collection of intimate moments over the course of decades—chronicling a man at odds with himself as he navigates a life not entirely under his own control and the roles he is asked to play. Patricia Lockwood on " Will There Ever Be Another You ' Experimental poet and novelist and Booker Prize-shortlisted author, Patricia Lockwood, will be joining us to discuss her latest book " Will There Ever Be Another You.' Amid a global pandemic, one young woman is trying to keep the pieces together—of her family, stunned by a devastating loss, and of her mind, left mangled and misfiring from a mystifying disease. She's afraid of her own floorboards, and 'WHAT IS LOVE? BABY DON'T HURT ME' plays over and over in her ears. She hates her friends, or more accurately, she doesn't know who they are. The book has garnered huge acclaim from today's most exciting fiction writers. Sally Rooney says, 'I really admire and love this book.' David Sedaris writes, 'I can't remember the last time I laughed so much reading a book.' Finally, Douglas Stuart calls the book 'a rare wonder... I was left in bits.' Stephen Greenblatt on " Dark Renaissance: The Dangerous Times and Fatal Genius of Shakespeare's Greatest Rival ' From Pulitzer Prize-winning academic and author, Stephen Greenblatt comes " Dark Renaissance "—a book illuminating Christopher Marlowe's times and the origins and significance of his work—from his erotic translations of Ovid to his portrayal of unfettered ambition in a triumphant 'Tamburlaine to Doctor Faustus,' his unforgettable masterpiece about making a pact with the devil in exchange for knowledge. Introducing us to Marlowe's transgressive genius in the form of a thrilling page-turner, Greenblatt offers a penetrating understanding of the literary work to reveal the inner world of the author. Greenblatt brings to life a homosexual atheist who was tormented by his own compromises, who refused to toe the party line, and who was murdered just when he had found love. Adam Haslett on " Mothers and Sons ' Award-winning author of 'Imagine Me Gone,' finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award, Adam Haslett joins the Festival this year to discuss his latest novel, " Mothers and Sons.' A mother and son, estranged for years, must grapple with the shared secret that drove their lives apart in this enthralling story about family, forgiveness, and how a fleeting act of violence can change a life forever, by 'one of the country's most talented writers' (Wall Street Journal). Chris Pavone on " The Doorman ' A thriller author who has appeared on the bestseller lists of USA Today, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and more, joins the festival to discuss his latest novel, " The Doorman,' a 'New York Times instant bestseller' that has garnered huge popular acclaim. 'Chris Pavone has always been good, but this novel is way better than good,' says Stephen King, 'The kind of novel that wins book awards. Cynical, tender, sharp, dense, funny, and loaded with inside dope about how New York works (and how it doesn't). 'The Doorman' is a 'Bonfire of the Vanities' for the 21st century. He gives it to both sides of the culture wars, and with both smoking barrels.' Aria Aber on " Good Girl ' Raised in Germany speaking both Farsi and German, Aria Aber writes in her third language, English. Her debut poetry collection, 'Hard Damage,' won the Prairie Schooner Book Prize and the Whiting Award. Aber joins the Festival this year to discuss her first novel " Good Girl.' In Berlin's artistic underground, where techno and drugs fill warehouses still pockmarked from the wars of the twentieth century, nineteen-year-old Nila at last finds her tribe. Born in Germany to Afghan parents, raised in public housing graffitied with swastikas, drawn to philosophy, photography, and sex, Nila has spent her adolescence disappointing her family while searching for her voice as a young woman and artist.'[An] exhilarating debut novel... Aber has published astonishing poems I've read dozens of times. It's thrilling to see her turn major poetic gifts toward the sweep of this Künstlerroman,' said R. O. Kwon, The New York Times Book Review. 'It's a thrill to reveal the first 17 extraordinary authors joining us in Charleston for the Festival this year. From debut novelists to literary icons, this list reflects the depth and vibrancy of the literary landscape and the ambitions of our Festival,' says Sarah Moriarty, executive director of Charleston Literary Festival. 'These writers are sparking conversations that matter—and Charleston Literary Festival is a place to dive into them—to be moved, challenged, and have a whole lot of fun along the way.' Deeply Rooted in the Charleston Community This year marks Charleston Literary Festival's ninth year of providing a platform for people to come together to experience the transformative power of books and ideas. This mission is supported and propped up by strategic partnerships within the Charleston community. The Festival announces the College of Charleston (CofC) as the Festival's official academic partner again this year. CofC's enduring commitment to academic distinction makes it a wellspring for creative collaboration with the Festival. Charleston Literary Festival offers discounted tickets to the Festival to CofC staff, faculty, students, and alumni. CofC students will have the opportunity to intern at the Festival, volunteer, and attend the programs. Charleston Literary Festival also works closely with CofC faculty to arrange special meet and greets between students and visiting authors. Charleston Literary Festival is proud to renew its partnership with Charleston County Public Library (CCPL) this year. With a shared commitment to promote a thriving literary community in Charleston, the Festival works closely with CCPL during the festival to increase access to Festival books, audiobooks, and Festival programs through ticket giveaways and live streaming sessions. Festival books will be available to the community at library branches and in ebook and audiobook formats on the Libby app. Charleston Literary Festival is delighted to partner with the International African American Museum (IAAM) on programming for the third year to bring exceptional authors to the Festival. The collaboration between Charleston Literary Festival and IAAM shows great alignment between complementary missions illuminating untold stories of the African American experience. New This Year Exclusive VIP Literary Weekend Experiences Putting Charleston on the Map as an Unmissable Literary Destination Festival VIP guests experience Charleston like the Charleston literati! After a very successful soft launch in 2024, Charleston Literary Festival is officially launching its VIP Literary Weekend Experience this year. Offered over two weekends (Friday, November 7 to Sunday, November 9 and again Friday, November 14 to Sunday, November 16), our VIP guests receive an introduction to the Charleston Literary Festival and to Charleston like no other with private tours, exclusive access to historic homes, and more. 'I absolutely loved it! I'm not sure another city (even New York!) could compare,' said Cynthia Davison, a VIP visitor from Atlanta, GA, who participated in the pilot VIP Literary Weekend Experience in 2024. Link to VIP Literary Weekend Experience: Free Book Club Concierge Service to Support Our Bookish Friends Charleston Literary Festival is offering a brand new free service to our book club friends. Introducing the Charleston Literary Festival Book Club Concierge service. This service offers book clubs guidance and advice on travel, accommodation, scheduling, restaurants, and more. Having soft-launched at the end of May, over 60 book clubs from all over the country have already reached out to our Book Club Concierge inquiring about attending the Festival in November. 'Book clubs are the heartbeat of literary communities—they shop bookstores, review books, share their readerly opinions on social media, support local libraries, and attend literary festivals. When a book club chooses Charleston Literary Festival to immerse themselves in a literary experience, we want to welcome them with stellar programming and our own brand of radical Charleston hospitality,' said Andrea Jasmin, marketing manager at Charleston Literary Festival. Learn more about our free Book Club Concierge service: Tickets and Information Please note: This preliminary announcement features only 17 of the 50+ authors who will appear at Charleston Literary Festival in November. Mark your calendars for these three important dates What can you do right now? About Charleston Literary Festival Charleston Literary Festival is a 10-day boutique literary festival with an international edge that takes place every November in Charleston, South Carolina. With an emphasis on world-class literary programming, Charleston Literary Festival is unparalleled in the United States as a center of literary excavation, innovation, and celebration in a powerfully evocative historic location. Previous speakers include: Claire Keegan, Walter Isaacson, George Saunders, Adam Gopnik, James Shapiro, Patrick Radden Keefe, Jean Hanff Korelitz, Ben Okri, Colm Tóibin, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah, Lorrie Moore, and more. This year's Charleston Literary Festival will run at Dock Street Theatre in Downtown Charleston from November 7–16, 2025. Visit for more information. Media Contact Andrea Jasmin [email protected] ### SOURCE: Charleston Literary Festival Copyright 2025 EZ Newswire
Boston Globe
a day ago
- Politics
- Boston Globe
‘Where was God?' The Mother Emanuel AME Church shooting 10 years later.
Get The Gavel A weekly SCOTUS explainer newsletter by columnist Kimberly Atkins Stohr. Enter Email Sign Up This was quite remarkable, because less than 48 hours earlier, on the night of June 17, 2015, Sanders had just closed her eyes in benediction — during Bible study at her beloved Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church — when she was jolted by an explosion of gunfire. The 57-year-old woman, a fourth-generation member of 'Mother Emanuel,' the oldest A.M.E. church in the South, dove under a table and pulled her 11-year-old granddaughter down with her. She squeezed the child so tightly she feared she might crush her, instructing her to play dead as a 21-year-old white supremacist methodically assassinated nine of the 12 Black worshippers in the basement fellowship hall. Those she watched die included her 26-year-old son, Tywanza Sanders, who had tried vainly to distract the shooter, and her 87-year-old aunt, Susie Jackson, who was shredded by 10 hollow-point bullets. At one point, Sanders smeared her legs with the blood pooling at her feet so that the killer might think he had finished her off. It worked. What happened in court two days later, a procession of forgiveness by Black victims for a remorseless racist murderer, both awed and befuddled the world. Many found it to be the purest expression of Christianity they had ever witnessed and could not imagine ever being graced in any such way. With the help of a soaring and melodic eulogy for the victims by President Barack Obama, the church known as Mother Emanuel soon became an earthly emblem of amazing grace. FILE - Tyrone Sanders and Felicia Sanders comfort each other at the graveside of their son, Tywanza Sanders, on June 27, 2015, at Emanuel AME Cemetery in Charleston, S.C. (Grace Beahm/The Post And Courier via AP, File) Grace Beahm/Associated Press Now fast-forward to December 2016. Felicia Sanders is back in court, the lead witness in the death penalty trial of Dylann Roof. She is under cross-examination by Roof's attorney, who is trying to establish that Roof threatened to kill himself that night, a desperate stab at a psychiatric defense. This time there is no nod by Sanders at forgiveness, no prayer for the soul of her son's unrepentant executioner. 'He say he was going to kill himself, and I was counting on that,' Sanders responds coolly in her Lowcountry lilt, glaring at Roof from the stand. 'He's evil. There's no place on earth for him except for the pit of hell.' Roof's lawyer, blindsided, tries once more to prompt Sanders about Roof's suicidality. She is having none of it: 'Send himself back to the pit of hell, I say.' Had something changed about Felicia Sanders? Had she, in the 18 months between the Emanuel murders and the trial, forsaken the commitment to forgiveness that was such a hallmark of her faith and that had so moved the world? Not in the slightest, I concluded, while researching a book about the history of Mother Emanuel and the meaning of forgiveness in the African American church. To the contrary, Sanders and other church stalwarts helped me understand that the forgiveness expressed toward Dylann Roof had not been for Dylann Roof but rather for themselves. Those who appeared at Roof's bond hearing did not speak for everyone in the congregation, or even in their families. A decade later, some still describe the path to forgiveness as a journey they travel at their own pace. But the grace volunteered in June 2015 grew organically from the fiber of African Methodism, a denomination two centuries old. It obviously had deep scriptural roots — 'Forgive us our trespasses' and 'Forgive them, for they know not what they do.' But it also was an iteration of a timeworn survival mechanism that has helped African American Christians withstand enslavement, forced migration, captivity, indentured servitude, segregation, discrimination, denial of citizenship, and the constant threat of racial and sexual violence with their souls and their sanity still, somehow, intact. One year after the shootings at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., relatives and friends of the slain gathered to honor their lives. Grace Beahm/Associated Press Churches like Emanuel, which has roots in antebellum Charleston, have long served as physical and spiritual refuges from the scourges that confront Black Americans. Its own long history, a two-century cycle of suppression and resistance, illuminates the relentless afflictions of caste in the city where nearly half of all enslaved Africans disembarked in North America and where the Civil War began. Emanuel's predecessor congregation, which formed in 1817 after a subversive walkout from Methodist churches by free and enslaved Black Charlestonians, faced immediate harassment from white authorities. The police raided services and jailed worshippers by the scores. When an incipient slave insurrection plot was uncovered in 1822 and traced back in part to the church, 35 men were led to the gallows, nearly half of them from the congregation. The wood-frame building was dismantled by order of the authorities and the church's leading ministers forced into exile. Emanuel's founding pastor after the Civil War, Richard Harvey Cain, used its pulpit as a springboard into politics, winning seats in the state legislature and Congress in a career that mirrored at first the heady hope and then the stolen promise of Reconstruction. During the depths of Jim Crow, Charlestonians assembled at Emanuel to voice outrage over lynchings and jurisprudential travesties. Its civil rights era pastor, Benjamin J. Glover, also led Charleston's NAACP, staged peaceful protest marches from the church, and was repeatedly jailed. Congregants were urged to action there by Booker T. Washington (1909), W.E.B. DuBois (1921), and Martin Luther King Jr. (1962), and then, a year after King's assassination, by his widow, Coretta Scott King (1969). She came to support a hospital workers' strike that bore eerie echoes of the sanitation workers' strike that had drawn her husband to Memphis. Nearly five decades later, the first person shot by Dylann Roof on June 17, 2015, was the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a remarkable prodigy who had been the youngest African American elected to South Carolina's legislature and was serving his fourth term in the state Senate. A horse-drawn carriage carried the casket of the late South Carolina State Senator Clementa Pinckney past the Confederate flag and onto the grounds of the South Carolina State Capitol in Columbia, S.C. on June 24, 2015. REUTERS The weight of it all takes the breath away. And for many, forgiveness might seem an inadequate response, given available options like anger, bitterness, hatred, revenge, retribution. A more natural one, perhaps a more human one, might even be 'Where was God?' But in interviews over the years, each of the six family members who spoke mercifully toward Dylann Roof explained that they did so for their own spiritual release. They depicted the moment in mystical terms — unpremeditated, unexpected, the words just flowed, it was God talking. But none said they meant for their words to be read as a grant of exoneration or a pass from accountability. No slate had been wiped. Indeed, some did not care much whether Roof lived or died (he remains on federal death row in Indiana, one of three inmates whose sentences were not commuted to life in prison by President Joe Biden at the close of his term). Rather, the mothers and children and widowers of the dead described their brand of forgiveness as a purging of self-destructive toxins, a means for reversing the metastasis of rage, and at its most basic a way to get out of bed each morning in the face of it all. It served as an unburdening, not an undoing, a method not only of moral practice but of emotional self-preservation. Because the choice to forgive was one dignity that could not be taken away, it also served as a path to empowerment. It might be mistaken for submission, but in Charleston it resurrected agency for victims who had been robbed of it. 'He is not a part of my life anymore,' the Rev. Anthony Thompson, the widower of Bible study leader Myra Thompson, told me in explaining his forgiveness of Roof. 'Forgiveness has freed me of that, of him, completely. I'm not going to make him a lifetime partner.' This may be disconcerting for some white Americans who found reassurance in the notion that those who forgave Dylann Roof were, by association, also forgiving — or at least moving beyond — the four-century legacy of white supremacy that contributed to his poisoning. They decidedly were not, and the question of whether we make serious progress toward eradicating the psychosis of race in this country and the inequities it bequeaths in wealth, education, housing, justice, and health, not to mention hope, awaits an answer on the 50th or 100th anniversary of the massacre at Mother Emanuel.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
SC congressman again proposes closing ‘loophole' that allowed Charleston shooter to buy gun
Rep. Jim Clyburn speaks at his annual fish fry on Friday May 30, 2025. (Photo by Shaun Chornobroff/SC daily Gazette) A decade after nine people were gunned down in a Charleston church, South Carolina's lone Democrat in Congress is launching another effort to close the loophole that allowed the hate-filled shooter to purchase his gun. U.S. Rep. James Clyburn, accompanied by a quartet of House Democrats, announced Tuesday the latest proposal to give the FBI longer to complete a background check. Instead of letting a gun sale go through after three business days, the bill would give the FBI up to 20 business days to verify whether a customer checks out. A longer background check may have prevented the tragedy that shocked the nation June 17, 2015. A drug arrest should've prevented then-21-year-old Dylann Roof from buying the gun he used to kill people gathered for a Wednesday night Bible study at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston. But an FBI investigator didn't determine that in time to stop the sale. 'These were all constituents of mine, some of whom I knew very personally,' Clyburn, whose 6th District includes the historic Black church, said at a news conference in Washington, D.C. 'With the kind of background check we are talking about today, we would have prevented that because he would have never gotten a gun.' The gunman, an avowed white supremacist who wanted to start a race war, 'had cased the church. He had researched the church,' Clyburn said one week ahead of the 10-year anniversary. 'And he picked this church because of its history.' A federal jury convicted Roof in December 2016 on 33 counts of federal hate crimes and firearms charges. Weeks later, jurors sentenced him to death. He is among just three inmates left on federal death row after President Joe Biden pardoned 37 other prisoners in December. SC activists call for expanded gun background checks a decade after Mother Emanuel slaying In the aftermath of the shooting, the federal law allowing a licensed firearm dealer to continue with a sale after three days — regardless of whether the check has been completed — became known as the Charleston loophole. State and federal proposals to give the FBI more time have failed repeatedly. A month after the massacre, FBI Director James Comey outlined the clerical errors and jurisdictional confusion that let the gun sale go through, saying 'The bottom line is clear: Dylann Roof should not have been able to legally buy that gun that day.' Then-Gov. Nikki Haley said that knowledge made her 'literally sick to my stomach.' Her response was to criticize the FBI for still relying on paperwork, saying technology, not more time, is the solution. Pro-gun lobbying groups, including the National Rifle Association, remain staunchly opposed to extending background checks, arguing extended checks could put people in danger as they wait. The NRA has also noted that two months lapsed between Roof buying the gun and the shooting. The group contends extending the three-day required wait would not have stopped him. Nationwide, 22 states have either extended the wait for a background check beyond three days or eliminated the ability for a sale to proceed before a check is complete, no matter how long it takes, according to the gun safety nonprofit Everytown. In the Southeast, those states include Florida, Tennessee and Virginia. The bill Clyburn announced Tuesday is very similar to legislation that passed the U.S. House in 2019 and 2021, when Democrats controlled the chamber. Neither got a vote on the Senate floor. Legislation he introduced in 2023, after Republicans regained control of the House, never made it out of committee. At the news conference, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries pleaded for Republicans to support the bill. 'The gun violence epidemic that has ravaged America for far too long in such horrific ways, in such deeply personal ways, in such searing ways, requires an aggressive, commonsense response,' said the New York Democrat, adding, 'We just need a handful of Republicans to join us.'
New York Times
01-06-2025
- General
- New York Times
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. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Yahoo
13-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
SC activists call for expanded gun background checks a decade after Mother Emanuel slaying
Activists with South Carolina chapters of Moms Demand Action and Students Demand Action, stood on the Statehouse steps Thursday, March 13, 2025, calling on legislators to close the "Charleston loophole" for gun background checks nearly a decade after the Mother Emanuel shooting. (Photo by Jessica Holdman/SC Daily Gazette) COLUMBIA — Nearly a decade ago, a 'loophole' in the federal gun law made it possible for an avowed white supremacist with a history of drug use to buy a pistol, despite a drug arrest that should have blocked the purchase. Two months later, he used that pistol to kill nine members of the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston gathered for a Bible study the evening of June 17, 2015. The tragedy still haunts the family of Rep. Hamilton Grant, D-Columbia, whose wife's grandfather, the Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., was among the victims. Grant joined the roughly 50 activists from the South Carolina chapter of Moms Demand Action and the Beaufort High School chapter of Students Demand Action on the south steps of the Statehouse on Thursday to call for the passage of state legislation to close the so-called 'Charleston loophole.' He held high the Bible that Simmons had with him that night. 'For 10 years, we've heard from past and present elected officials from this state on how much they are praying for us, how much they admire our strength and courage to forgive someone who wasn't sorry,' Grant said. 'And while I have no doubt that all those kind words and prayers were sincere, I am often conflicted when they are not backed with action.' Under federal law, the FBI has three business days to complete a background check for a person seeking to buy a firearm from a licensed dealer. If the background check takes longer, for whatever reason, the dealer has the right to continue with the sale. It was reporting errors and jurisdictional confusion that kept an FBI investigator from getting the necessary information on the Mother Emanuel shooter that would have prevented him from buying the gun, according to a 2015 statement by then FBI Director James Comey. Columbia police had arrested the then-21-year-old shooter on felony drug charges a month before he entered a West Columbia gun shop to purchase the .45-caliber pistol. Had reports directed the investigator to the correct police department, she would have learned the shooter admitted to having drugs on him when he was arrested, disqualifying him for the gun purchase. In 2017, a federal jury in Charleston sentenced Dylann Roof to death for the slaying after convicting him on 33 counts for federal hate crimes and firearms charges. He is among just three inmates left on federal death row after President Joe Biden pardoned 37 other prisoners in December. According to FBI data, there were 271,359 background checks in 2015 that went uncompleted within the allotted three-day window, allowing sales to go forward without a finished check. That's 3% of all federal checks run that year. The Mother Emanuel shooter was one of them. Since then, the FBI has recorded a total of 2.9 million uncompleted background checks through 2023, the latest available data. Historically, 70-80% of those uncompleted checks lingered for 90 days and were purged from the federal system, meaning federal law enforcement never learned if a gun was sold to someone prohibited from owning it. For 2023 in South Carolina, there were 9,072 uncompleted checks. In at least 71 of those instances, the FBI later learned a gun was sold to an unauthorized buyer. Legislators talked of changing state laws in the immediate aftermath of the Mother Emanuel tragedy. Former Sen. Marlon Kimpson, D-Charleston, pledged to block any pro-gun bill until the Senate held a hearing on legislation extending the time period for completing background checks. In 2016, he succeeded, blocking a bill on concealed weapon permits until the Senate's former judiciary chairman pledged to hold a hearing. Kimpson's bill reached the Senate floor in 2018 but never got a vote. He reintroduced the bill in 2019 and got a hearing, but the legislation never made it out of committee. In Congress, U.S. Rep. James Clyburn has repeatedly sponsored legislation that would give the FBI up to 20 days to complete a background check. The U.S. House passed the bill in 2019 and in 2021, but neither received a vote on the U.S. Senate floor. Now, Democratic state Sen. Deon Tedder, who sits in Kimpson's former seat, has taken up the mantle and filed legislation. As has Rep. J.A. Moore, D-North Charleston, whose sister was killed in the Mother Emanuel shooting. 'I want to remind everyone here that there is a real, genuine impact behind making sure a background check is complete before proceeding with the gun sale. It's not just a tagline,' said Beaufort High School junior Piper Kennedy. 'It could have saved the nine lives that were taken at Mother Emanuel church,' she continued. 'But instead of focusing on solutions that we know prevent gun violence, this Legislature is (doing) just the opposite.' Kennedy said she has grown up practicing active shooter drills at school and 'knowing that a normal day could end in bloodshed.' In 2022, those drills became more real after a spate of hoax calls to schools around the state had students in lock down afraid there was a school shooter roaming the halls. In addition to the loophole bill, the activists called for funding of community violence intervention programs and laws to criminally charge gun owners who do not securely store firearms. 'We want to be able to go outside and walk our dog. We want to be able to sit on our porch. We want to even be able to go to sleep at night without hearing gunshots,' said Trevon Fordham, who runs the city of Columbia's violent crime prevention office. 'And while that may sound like something from a movie for some folks, it is the reality for a lot of folks we talk to because of gun violence.' Grant commended House budget writers for allocating money in their budget plan to pay for police officers in every public school in the state. But the activists were not under any illusion that legislators were likely to take up other measures. Instead, legislators have expanded gun access, passing a law last March that made it legal to carry handguns without a permit, said Patty Tuttle, a volunteer with Moms Demand Action in South Carolina. 'They have a history of not acting on this and it's inexcusable,' she said.
