The Power of Martyrdom

When Dylann Roof walked into the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina he had no idea that what he was about to do would result in the demonization of the symbols of the Confederacy that he held so dear. Not in his wildest dreams did he think that his actions alone would create a national conversation that would eventually remove the confederate battle flag from the state capitol grounds in Columbia, South Carolina and Montgomery, Alabama, the license plates of Virginia, Texas, Alabama, and Georgia, as well as remove the emblem from the state flag of Mississippi. I am sure he had no idea that within days, anything with the battle flag on it would be impossible to buy at Wal-Mart, Sears, Amazon, Target, or E-Bay. I am sure that he had no idea that with his singular, incredibly evil act he would do more to illuminate the true purpose of the Civil War than all of America’s schools have been able to do. Surely, he had no idea that he would bring all of God’s children, Blacks and whites, Jews and Gentiles, Protestant and Catholic, Democrat and Republican, together to a table of brotherhood and mutual respect.

Rev. Clementa Pinckney, State Senator. Ms. Cynthia Hurd, Librarian. Rev. Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, Speech Therapist and Girl’s track coach. Mr. Tywanza Sanders, recent graduate of Allen University. Ms. Ethel Lance, seventy-year-old member of Emanuel AME, served as church sexton for more than 30 years. Ms. Susie Jackson, 87-year-old member of Emanuel AME, choir member and usher. Ms. DePayne Middleton Doctor, retired Charleston County Director of the Community Development Block Grant Program. Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr. 74-year-old retired pastor, member of Emanuel AME ministerial staff. Ms. Myra Thompson, 59-year-old wife of a local minister. They are all dead. They were murdered on Wednesday night while attending bible study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina. They have become martyrs, known all over the world.

On June 23, 1963, fifty-two years ago yesterday, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made a speech in Detroit, Michigan in which he said, “A man who hasn’t found something he is willing to die for is not fit to live”. Later that year, Dr. King would deliver the eulogy for three of the four little girls that died when another church was desecrated by the act of those poisoned by racism. The 16^th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham was bombed on a Sunday morning by the ku klux klan. The deaths were an awakening for white America. “Conservative” politicians declined to defend the indefensible, and in 1964, the Civil Rights Act was passed, and the laws that mandated racial segregation and discrimination came to an end.

In 1965, Jimmie Lee Jackson, Rev. James Reeb, and Viola Liuzzo gave the “last full measure of devotion”. The march from Selma to Montgomery was sanctioned and protected by the federal government, and the Voting Rights Act was passed. As a result, one hundred years after its passage in the aftermath of the Civil War, the promise of the 14^th and 15^th amendments would be fulfilled, Blacks would finally be allowed to vote, and true citizenship for African Americans would at last become an American reality.

Dr. King himself would pay the price in 1968. His martyrdom would silence his many critics, and secure his place as an American hero. He would take his place beside Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington, and Franklin Roosevelt on the National Mall. His birthday would become a national holiday, and his legacy would continue to advance the cause of freedom and equality all over the world thru the present day.

The power of symbolism cannot be underestimated. The Nazi’s recognized this power, and the swastika and what it means was and remains unmistakable to this day. The Stars and Stripes of the United States is a beacon of hope and symbol of freedom all over the world. The Cross is the universal symbol of Christianity. The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is the essence of Christianity, and the martyrdom of Christ and its effect on the world is unequaled.

It is very likely that the nine people that died at Emanuel AME Church had no desire to be martyrs. Like most of us they wanted to live, and enjoy their lives as long as possible. But I am confident that all of them, if they knew that that day, would be their last day, would hope that their living, their lives, would not be in vain. I am sure that if they knew that their blood would be sacrificed on the floor of their place of worship, they would want something good to come from it. As natives of the South, it is unlikely they would have imagined the response from the people of Charleston, America, and the world.

Something momentous is happening in the old Confederacy. Eyes have been opened, hearts have been touched, and minds have been changed. The racists are embarrassed and searching for excuses and reasons for being. Love, respect, understanding, and brotherhood is winning. The blood sacrifice of Mother Emanuel is generating mass empathy all over the South.

“A man who hasn’t found something worth dying for, isn’t fit to live”. Dr. King’s statement is one that all of us should take some time to think about.