Plans Unveiled for Memorial At Site of Charleston Church Massacre
Source: New York Times
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Three years after a racist blood bath in its fellowship hall -- and 200 years after its defiant founding as one of the South's first black congregations -- Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., unveiled designs on Sunday for a contemplative memorial to the nine victims and five survivors of the horrific attack.
As envisioned by the architect Michael Arad, who also designed the National September 11 Memorial in Lower Manhattan, sections of the church's parking lot would be transformed into two meditative spaces, one a stone memorial courtyard, the other a grassy survivors' garden. Together they would speak to the suffering and resilience of a church that has outlasted two centuries of persecution through its practice of faith and forgiveness.
The focal point of the memorial is a pair of sleekly curving high-backed pews, carved of white marble, that would welcome visitors from Calhoun Street like outstretched arms. Some congregants have seen in them a pair of angels' wings, or even the hull of a slave ship.
Mr. Arad, a New York-based partner with Handel Architects, said the plan was "intended to promote a sense of community, that when you walk into this space, you become a member of this congregation."...More..
Read more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/plans-unveiled-for-memorial-at-site-of-charleston-church-massacre/ar-AAA6RCy
The planning of the Emanuel memorial coincides with a nationwide movement, inspired in part by the massacre, to rid public spaces of statues, monuments and names that honor the Confederacy. Mr. Roof's association with Confederate symbols prompted South Carolina's governor and Legislature to remove the Confederate battle flag from a pole on the state Capitol grounds in Columbia three years ago. That led to similar efforts across the country, toppling Robert E. Lee from his pedestal in New Orleans and rebranding schools named for his lieutenants.
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You get like that when you grew up in the 1950/60's South and now under trump's racist reign.
I'm glad it will be for the beautiful old church, the congregation and the victims of hatred --
?w968h681
The flag they respect
The flag they burn
