 |
We Are Charleston authors Dr. Bernard E. Powers Jr.,
Marjory Wentworth and Herb Frazier. |
ASHEBORO
--
On the night of June 17, 2015, a 21-year-old white
supremacist shot and killed nine African-American churchgoers and wounded five
others during a prayer meeting at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston,
South Carolina.
A year
later, a journalist, a historian and a poet, all with deep ties to the city,
published We Are Charleston: Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel. The
three — Herb Frazier, Dr. Bernard E. Powers Jr. and Marjory Wentworth —will
share their thoughts and reflections in the first installment of the 2019
Friends of the Library Sunset Signature Series at 7 p.m. Saturday, January 26,
in downtown Asheboro’s historic Sunset Theatre.
The event,
sponsored by the Heart of North Carolina Visitors Bureau, the City of Asheboro
and the Friends of the Randolph County Public Library, is free and the public
is invited.
Frazier has
edited and reported for five daily newspapers in the South, including the Post
and Courier in Charleston, his hometown. He currently serves as marketing
and public relations manager for Magnolia Plantation and Gardens near
Charleston.
Powers is a
history professor at the College of Charleston, where he teaches United States
and African American history. He has appeared in productions for PBS including The
African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross and Slavery and the Making of
America.
Wentworth is
Poet Laureate of South Carolina. A
five-time nominee for the Pushcart Prize in poetry, she is author of
five collections of poetry and the acclaimed children’s book Shackles.
We Are
Charleston explores not only the shooting, its aftermath and its ramifications, but
also the history of slavery and racism in Charleston, and the importance of the
AME denominational movement in the fight for freedom and civil rights. The book
also delves into the impact of the shooting on the loved ones of those killed
and wounded, focusing on the nature of forgiveness and the religious mandate to
forgive — a fraught subject in the face of the evil acts of the young murderer.
Also slated
for the 2019 Signature Series:
- Musician Jim Avett, 7 p.m. Friday, March 15;
- Author Jerry Bledsoe, 7 p.m. Thursday, May 2;
- UNC basketball titan Eric Montross, 7 p.m. Saturday, September 21.
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