In the wake of the South Carolina shooting, NPR broadcasted several short interviews with those who personally knew Rev. Clementa Pinckney. The one thing they kept on mentioning was his voice—how wonderful and impactful his voice was.
Curious, I looked up a video of him speaking. This particular video was from an event at Mother Emanuel A.M.E. Church in 2013, in which, hauntingly, he stated that sometimes one had to die for a cause of justice. He died in this very same place. Watch the last few minutes of this video.
I can’t remember the last time I was awed by a voice. What a tremendous gift this man had. This voice had the power to move and influence people, and he did use it in ministry as well as in public service.
What a loss for humanity. I’m sorry to have only known of him after his death, but I’m still inspired by his dedication to humanity and the society he was a part of.
In this terrible incident, a bright spot collided with a dark spot in human history. Tremendous love collided with tremendous hate. How very perplexing.
