Dr. Bernard Powers recently attended the Decatur Book Festival to discuss the book he co-authored, We Are Charleston: Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emmanuel.
The book is an essential, multi-layered exploration of the tragic events experienced by South Carolina’s famed Mother Emanuel Church last summer. The book, written by South Carolina-based writers Herb Frazier (award-winning journalist and childhood member of Mother Emanuel), Dr. Bernard Edward Powers (A.M.E. Church member and professor of history at the College of Charleston) and Marjory Wentworth (South Carolina’s Poet Laureate), is based on extensive interviews with family and friends of “The Emanuel Nine” – the church members who lost their lives on June 17, 2015, when a young man opened fire on a prayer meeting at the church.
Additionally, We Are Charleston details the triumphant 230-year history of the A.M.E. Church – the largest body of African-American Methodists with 7.5 million members world-wide – and its role in America’s social justice story from slavery to the civil rights movement. The book also discusses the importance of Mother Emanuel Church itself, both to the Charleston community and to the nation. The oldest A.M.E. church in the Deep South, Mother Emanuel’s perseverance in the face of adversity and discrimination serves as an example of faith and forgiveness to the entire world.
For more info about the festival, click here: We Are Charleston