We shall overcome

CHARLESTON, S.C.—Thousands from the greater Charleston community gathered Friday night, joining families of the nine murdered during a Wednesday night Bible study to mourn their loss and seek greater racial unity in this historic Southern city.

The Community Prayer and Healing Vigil challenged those gathered at the College of Charleston’s TD Arena to deny accused murderer Dylann Roof of his intent to divide the community by uniting in love and forgiveness.

“God loves Charleston,” said Charleston City Council Chairman Elliott Summey, “because Charlestonians love each other.”

Hosted by the City of Charleston, the vigil came just two days after Roof entered the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, known locally as “Mother Emanuel AME,” as it is the oldest predominantly black congregation in the South. He was welcomed into a small Bible study, sat with his victims for an hour, and then pulled a gun from a pack he wore on his waist and opened fire, killing the church’s pastor state Sen. Clementa Pinckney and eight others.

“We share one thing in common,” Charleston Mayor Joseph P. Riley Jr. said to his racially diverse audience, which included the state’s two U.S. senators, Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott. “Our hearts are broken. We have an anguish like we have never had before.”

Riley called the gunman’s beliefs on race and segregation outdated: “in the dustbin of failed civilizations,” and if his hope was to divide the city with hate and bigotry, Riley said “he miserably failed. In our broken hearts, we realize we love each other more.”

“Where was God when evil entered the sanctuary of Mother Emanuel?” asked one of Pinckney’s fellow lawmakers, state Sen. Marlon Kimpson. “Emanuel means God is with us … and God was with those who were killed, holding their hands and whispering into their ears at the last transition from God’s earthy sanctuary to the great sanctuary above. And God will certainly be with us when evil is brought to justice for violating our sanctuary. And God will be with us to form a real conversation in this state about hate, race, and divisions.”

Bishop Robert E. Guglielmone of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Charleston urged a trust in God for answers when we have no answers, reading from Psalm 27, “The Lord is my life and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?”

As the arena filled with singing—first “What a Friend We Have in Jesus” and then “We’ll Understand It Better Bye and Bye”—eyes filled with tears, but faces showed a resolve to seek sanctuary in God and trust Him to provide understanding when unspeakable tragedy befalls.

In closing, the Rev. Nelson B. Rivers III of Charity Mission Baptist Church asked everyone in the arena to turn and greet those around them with the words “I love you.” Then with crossed arms and held hands, they swayed to “We Shall Overcome,” singing, “Black and white together, we shall overcome.”