On June 17, 2015, five clergy and four church members were mercilessly gunned down during Bible study by a 21-year-old white supremacist at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.
In the wake of the devastation, the faith of the Emanuel Nine, their families, and the survivors illuminated the way: it would be by the amazing grace of God.
Just hours after the massacre, the survivors displayed God’s unyielding love by telling the shooter that they forgave him.
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.
The inspiration for the memorial design is drawn from reflecting upon the lives and sacrifices of the Emanuel Nine: 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.
