Watch: Benedict College Hosts Families of Emanuel Nine Victims
On Tuesday, Benedict College held an event to honor the Emanuel 9.
Columbia , S.C. (WOLO) — On Tuesday morning, dozens of students attended a Black History Month event at Benedict College. The event, “No Greater Faith. The Legacy of the Mother Emanuel AME Church,” honored the nine victims, the survivors and their families of the Charleston Church shooting.
During the event, the survivors and the family members of the victims participated in a Q&A style meeting.
“The last thing she said was I’ll call you when I leave church,” recalled Denise Quarles.
Quarles is the daughter of Myra Thompson, a retired Charleston County school teacher killed inside Mother Emanuel AME. Quarles said it’s her faith that continues to be a healing grace nearly 8 months after the shooting.
“What happened with my mom, it’s beyond me,” said Quarles. “I’m almost a testimony that even though you can lose your mother you can still carry on if you believe in God and you trust in him.”
During the panel discussion, several other family members echoed Quarles, specifically citing the bond hearing for alleged gunman Dylann Roof. Several of them said during the hearing they relied on their faith to give them strength in facing the accused killer.
“My father spoke about how he needed to repent for what he did because that’s something he’s going to have to account for when he faces God one day,” explained Quarles.
Immediately following the tragedy, the city of Charleston came together, showing the world the power of love and unity. It’s that message Quarles hopes to relay to students at Benedict College and children around the world.
“We can’t forget what has happened we have to take what happened and turn that around and be positive, think about ways we can impact the community, spending more time with children, having more opportunities for them to be around people who don’t look like them so they can form those relationships and some of those stereotypes may be diminished.”
