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We Are Charleston: Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel Audiobook
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On June 17, 2015, at 9:05 p.m., a young man with a handgun opened fire on a prayer meeting at the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Charleston, South Carolina, killing nine members of the congregation. The captured shooter, twenty-one-year-old Dylan Roof, a white supremacist, was charged with their murders. Two days after the shooting, while Roof’s court hearing was held on video conference, the families of his nine victims, one by one, appeared on the screen—forgiving the killer. The “Emanuel Nine” set a profound example for their families, their city, their nation, and indeed the world.
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 suffering, triumph, and even the ongoing rage of the people who formed Mother Emanuel A.M.E. church and the wider denominational movement.
In many ways, this church’s story is America’s story—the oldest A.M.E. 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. The shootings in June 2015, opened up a deep wound of racism that still permeates Southern institutions and remains part of American society.
We Are Charleston tells the story of a people, continually beaten down, who seem to continually triumph over the worst of adversity. Exploring the storied history of the A.M.E. Church may be a way of explaining the price and power of forgiveness, a way of revealing God’s mercy in the midst of tremendous pain. We Are Charleston may help us discover what can be right in a world that so often has gone wrong.
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“Barry Scott’s resonant narration gives voice to the tragedy and those who died that night. Listening to the description of an event like this is a solemn experience given additional gravitas through Scott’s rich tone. Scott tells the story not only of that night but also of the history of Charleston that led to it, as well as the effect the shooting had on the community. Listeners who experience this audiobook will feel a special connection to those whose lives were shattered that night.”
— AudioFile
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About the Authors
Herb Frazier is the public relations and marketing manager for Magnolia Plantation and Gardens near Charleston, South Carolina. He grew up in the Ansonborough public housing projects in Charleston and at the US Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He studied journalism at the University of South Carolina and taught news writing as a visiting lecturer at Rhodes University in South Africa. He is a former Michigan Journalism Fellow at the University of Michigan. In 1990, the South Carolina Press Association named him journalist of the year.
Bernard E. Powers Jr. earned a PhD in American history at Northwestern University and is professor of history at the College of Charleston teaching courses in American, African American, and African diasporic history. His major work, Black Charlestonians: A Social History 1822-1885, was designated an Outstanding Academic Book by Choice Magazine. He has published several book chapters and journal articles in his area of expertise and is currently researching the rise of black Methodism in South Carolina. Dr. Powers has appeared in African American oriented documentary films, including most recently the PBS production The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross. He has also served as a board member or consultant to private organizations and public agencies promoting historic preservation. Presently Dr. Powers is on the board of the International African American Museum (IAAM) being built in Charleston, South Carolina, and chairs its program subcommittee. IAAM is a unique museum and memorial site that will mark the most significant point in the Atlantic slave trade to North America.
Marjory Wentworth is a Pushcart Prize–nominated poet who has worked extensively in human rights for organizations such as the UN High Commission for Refugees in Geneva, Switzerland; the Whole World Institute of Boston; and Church World Service in New York. She is the coauthor of Taking a Stand. She lives in Charleston, South Carolina.