Nine ministers said prayers for the nine victims of the Emanuel A.M.E. Church shooting in Charleston last week.
As the name of each victim was called, a candle was lit in their memory and in the prayers several of the ministers also prayed for the man charged with shooting them as they gathered for Bible study.
The vigil, held at St. Peters Missionary Baptist Church in Weldon, was a joint effort between the home church and Springfield Missionary Baptist Church in Littleton. Concerned Citizens of Tillery, the Halifax County Black Caucus and the county chapter of the NAACP were also sponsors.
While the evening was marked with reverence, remembrances and prayers for the victims, there were also calls to begin a frank discussion of racism in Halifax County and the lingering issue of school merger in the county.
Ministers join hands during the singing of We Shall Overcome.
“We are gathered here this evening to salute the nine victims who were humbly studying the Bible and praying in the house of God,” said Gary Grant of Concerned Citizens of Tillery, “A night that will go down in history because it brought to full fruition the hatred and racism that our nation is still plagued with, even unto death.”
Grant said the lives of the six women and three men were taken in an instant without provocation because “they dared to welcome all in their fold.”
CCT has been on the front lines of the battle for equality and justice for more than 37 years, Grant said. “We have met many who speak of justice and equality, but who will still have their own biases and none understanding that we cannot tread on one without imputing another.”
Grant sings during the congregational hymn.
Speaking of Dylann Roof, the man charged in the shooting, Grant said, he “was just plain angry and filled with hatred, which again informs us that one is not born with hate, but learns it from their environment.”
Grant called for beginning an honest discussion about racism, culture, hatred, “and the many other isms that we all face daily. Bring Halifax Countians, no matter what color, religion, sex or status in life together to talk of and act on peaceful solutions to the many injustices taking place in our county.”
Closing, Grant said, “The deaths of these nine individuals presents an opportunity for us to redefine, reshape and re-vision our belief in human rights.”
Kristy Sykes sings His Eye is on the Sparrow.
Weldon Mayor Julia Meacham said her heart was heavy at the thought of the safe haven of a church being the place where the nine met their demise.
Halifax County Commissioner Carolyn Johnson said she read the reports where Roof wanted to start a race war. “He went to the wrong place to a create a race war because the families showed him their forgiveness. Loving one another is not always easy to do. You have to do that through the in-dwelling of the Holy Spirit.”
Johnson said before coming to the vigil her spirit felt weak, but after listening to the president's eulogy for Reverend Clementa Pinckney and the hymn What a Friend We Have in Jesus, “It made all the difference.”
The congregation prays.
David Harvey, president of the county chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, took the more hardline approach in his talk, explaining the tragedy brought the issue of the Northern Virginia battle flag, commonly called the Confederate Flag, to the forefront. “It should have been down years ago,” he said. “Right here in Halifax County we have our own Confederate Flag — the racially drawn school line. It is the equivalent of the Confederate Flag to citizens of Roanoke Rapids and Halifax County.”
Harvey said it is “just hatred” that some children living in the city limits of Roanoke Rapids have to attend school in the county. “Everyone should be standing with us to remove that racially drawn school line. It's time for it to be removed but there's a lot of hatred preventing that.”
