Charleston, South Carolina was originally called Charles Towne (for Charles II). The town was established by English colonists in 1670 on the west bank of the Ashley river, thus beginning the colonization of South Carolina. In 1722, it was briefly incorporated as Charles City and Port, and in 1783 it was reincorporated as Charleston.
The juxtaposition amidst the southern hospitality and the seedy phylogenetic annals of the dirty south continues on the third day. The food, the places, the sea in and around Charleston are appealing and memorable. Then, you are jolted to reality by confederate emblems, Jim Crow traces, and the fastidious balance of racial unity.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church
The Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal (MEAME) church is one such place that induced the anxious tension of the memorable versus the contentious within me.
The African Methodist Episcopal (A.M.E.) is a sect of the Methodist Church that was founded
In 1787 when a group of Black worshipers, led by Richard Allen and Absalom Jones, exited St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania as an act of protest against segregation in the house of God.
https://divinity.yale.edu/academics/denominational-programs/african-methodist-episcopal-church
Mother Emanuel
MEAME was established in 1818 by the Reverend Morris Brown and was barred by South Carolina state law in 1834. MEAME was revived in 1865 and still endures today. Suddenly, on June 17, 2015, darkness slipped into the assemblage of worshippers at MEAME when
five clergy and four church members were mercilessly gunned down during Bible study by a 21-year-old white supremacist
https://emanuelnine.org/
MEAME is constructing a monument to the Emanuel Nine in recognition of the nine individuals that were executed during bible study that day. “The Emanuel Nine Memorial encourages people to reconcile their hearts and actions with the example set by families of the Emanuel Nine. The memorial will also honor their lives by teaching new attitudes and behaviors to reverse racism.” You can donate to the memorial fund here.
It is essential, particularly in the current racial environment in the United States to declare their names and commemorate them: Reverend Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Mrs Cynthia Graham Hurd, Mrs Susie J. Jackson, Mrs Ethel Lee Lance, Reverend DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Kibwe Diop Sanders, Reverend Daniel Lee Simmons, Sr., and Mrs Myra Singleton Quarles Thompson.
In closing, be vulnerable. Get to know someone that doesn’t look like you. ❤️ ✌️ ☮️.