‘I’m Just Not Ready to Forgive:’ One Family Member Reflects on Charleston Massacre a Year Later

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‘I’m Just Not Ready to Forgive:’ One Family Member Reflects on Charleston Massacre a Year Later

One year ago today, nine worshipers were callously executed during an evening Bible study at the Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

SHAUNDRA SELVAGGI | JUNE 2016 | ATLANTA BLACKSTAR

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“I didn’t forgive Dylann Roof. And I still don’t forgive him.”

[/one_third_last][two_third padding=”0 15px 0 0px”][dropcap]Dylann[/dropcap] Roof, a then 21-year-old white nationalist, sat and prayed with the unsuspecting parishioners for an hour before opening fire, killing six women and three men.

The world watched in awe as relatives of the victims stood before the gunman at a bond hearing two days later, and one-by-one offered forgiveness and prayer.
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Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, Charleston Church Shooting, Reverend Sharon Risher, Reverend Clementa Pinckney, KOLUMN Magazine

Survived By. Family members of Americans killed by gun violence. Rev. Sharon Risher, daughter of Ethel Lance, 70, and cousin to Susie Jackson, 87, and Tywanza Sanders, 26. (John Loomis)

Worshippers embrace following a group prayer across the street from the scene of a shooting Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

A man looks on as a group of people arrive inquiring about a shooting across the street Wednesday, June 17, 2015, in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

Lisa Doctor joins a prayer circle down the street from the Emanuel AME Church early Thursday, June 18, 2015 following a shooting Wednesday night in Charleston, S.C. (AP Photo/David Goldman)

EMANUEL AFRICAN METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH
CHURCH – Charleston, South Carolina
The Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, often referred to as Mother Emanuel, is a church in Charleston, South Carolina. Founded in 1816, Emanuel AME is the oldest African Methodist Episcopal church in the Southern United States, with the first independent black denomination in the United States as well as one of the oldest black congregations south of Baltimore.
MORE | WEBSITE

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“I forgive you,” said Nadine Collier, daughter of 70-year-old Ethel Lance. “You took something very precious from me. I will never talk to her again. I will never, ever hold her again. But I forgive you. And have mercy on your soul.”

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