Charleston Currents – Emanuel Nine

Rendering from Calhoun Street of fellowship benches, fountain and congregation. Credit: Image courtesy Dbox for The Mother Emanuel Nine Memorial / Handel Architects

FOCUS: Architect unveils Emanuel AME Church memorial design

Staff reports | Architect Michael Arad revealed design plans July 15 for a permanent memorial honoring the victims of the 2015 shooting that left dead nine members of Emanuel AME Church on Calhoun Street.

Arad, the architect behind the National September 11 Memorial in New York, conveyed his inspiration for the Emanuel Nine Memorial at the church following a ceremony celebrating its 200th anniversary.

“The inspiration for this memorial draws on Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church as a historic place and as a congregation,” Arad said in a statement. “Throughout its 200-year history, it has endured slavery, discrimination and racism. When worship and assembly were banned, the church resisted and provided a place of fellowship and sanctuary.

by Charleston Currents · 07/16/2018 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

FOCUS: Emanuel AME Church to honor 2nd anniversary of tragedy

Staff reports | The second anniversary of the June 17, 2015, tragedy in which nine members of Emanuel AME Church were slain will be commemorated with a series of commemorative events this month.

Perhaps the most visible will be Friday’s dialogue on race called The Charleston Forum. The event, which requires tickets, will feature a discussion on a wide range of issues impacting Charleston, the state and the nation. A description from the website:“The Charleston Forum’s dialogue is a step forward together, with no pre-set agenda but with a common purpose. Our discussions will address economics and education, policing and criminal justice, the future of the past, and the Charleston experience….

by Charleston Currents · 06/12/2017 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news

SUMMEY: The Emanuel Nine, one year later

By Elliott Summey | June 17, 2015, was a night that changed Charleston’s history and landscape forever. Although it started as a normal weekday for most of us as we tended to our families, late meetings and dinner, it became anything but normal.

While at a local hospital visiting a family member who had a stroke less than 24 hours before, I received a phone call about the events that had just unfolded at the Mother Emanuel AME Church. What was said on that phone call would never explain the sights and sounds that our first responders and those on the scene heard and saw firsthand.

by Charleston Currents · 06/27/2016 · Comments are Disabled · My Turn, Views

FOCUS: Music of doves ascending

A poem by Marjory Wentworth, poet laureate of South Carolina:

Yellow crime tape tied to the rod iron fence
weaves through bouquets of flowers
and wreaths made of white ribbons,
like rivers of bright pain flowing through the hours.

Weaving through bouquets of flowers,
lines of strangers bearing offerings
like rivers of bright pain flowing through the hours.
One week later; the funeral bells ring;

lines of strangers still bring offerings.
Nine doves tossed toward the sun.
One week later; the funeral bells ring,
while churches in small towns are burning.

Nine doves tossed toward the sun.
Because there are no words to sing,
while churches in small towns are burning,
a blur of white wings, ascends like music.

by Palmetto Poem · 06/06/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Focus, Good news, Palmetto Poem

Contributing edition Michael Kaynard is offering 11-inch by 14-inch limited edition prints of the above photographic collage as a way to honor the life of librarian Cynthia Graham Hurd. All of the proceeds will go to a memorial fund. More information is outlined below.

GOOD NEWS: New Hurd Foundation to have month-long children’s’ book drive

Staff reports | A new foundation is honoring the life of a much-loved librarian who was one of the nine people murdered last year by a gunman at Emanuel AME Church. The Cynthia Graham Hurd Foundation for Reading & Civic Engagement has been set up by her family to increase literacy and spread a passion for reading throughout Charleston, where […]

by Andy Brack · 05/16/2016 · Comments are Disabled · Good news, News briefs