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It’s been 10 years since nine members of the Mother Emanuel AME Church were murdered in the pews as they prayed, and the community still grieves those who were taken that day: Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Cynthia Graham Hurd, Susie Jackson, Ethel Lance, Rev. DePayne Middleton-Doctor, Rev. Clementa Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr., and Rev. Myra Thompson. The community also grieves the inaction following their deaths as the legal loophole that enabled their murderer to access a weapon still exists, and hate crimes and targeted political violence have surged across the nation, and across the globe. Most recently, the assassination of Democratic Minnesota State Representative Melissa Hortman and her husband John Hortman, and the shooting of Democratic Minnesota State Senator John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette Hoffman, stopped me in my tracks. It stopped me in my tracks the same way I pause every time I see a mangled child pulled from the rubble in Gaza, and when I watched Philando Castile being killed on Facebook live in 2016. Each violent loss leaves an indelible mark, and as we witness this harm in real time, my biggest goal is to highlight the human stories underneath the headlines. Who people are at their core, how they lived, and how they loved. Today, that includes reflecting on: Tywanza Sanders’ beautiful smile and dry sense of humor; Cynthia Graham Hurd’s love of books, and how she helped children after hours at the library; and Melissa and John Hortman’s love of baking cakes and bread and sharing it with family and friends. This is how their loved ones remember them. And it’s a reminder to not simply gloss over their names, but to feel deeply.
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