My Inside Experience

I was in the Charleston are of South Carolina on vacation for a week in June of 2015. One day, we wanted to see the French Quarter but got lost while trying to park somewhere. As we started our multi-mile walk in 100ºF weather, we came across a big beautiful church. In front of it was a large black gate with cards and big bouquets of flowers in front of it. They said things like "We will miss you." and "You will not be forgotten." I quickly realized that I was there, at Mother Emmanuel AMC, where the shootings had taken less than a week previously.

On my right, I saw a woman walking out of the church, clutching a handkerchief to her eyes with one hand while the other grasped to a man's hand next to her with his head low. To my left, a group of people stood in a crowd on that street. They had a continuous passionate chant: "United we stand, divided we fall." What was shocking was that in this moment, this wasn't a news story, a dramatic interpretation in a play, or an exhibit in a museum. This reality that these people had to deal with wasn't completely filled with anger, but with a long stage of grief and anxiety.

Later that day as our family was driving back to where we were staying, we passed through neighborhood in which these white children were selling lemonade. There was a little girl running by our car holding a large sign in front of the lemonade stand. All of the profits were to go to Mother Emanuel families. (I actually saw this!)

Source: The Island Eye News (http://islandeyenews.com/kindness-strength-in-midst-of-tragedy/)

That was a beautiful thing. What's sad in this situation was that no one would have seen this on the news, and if they did they likely disregarded it. Actually seeing a hand of support rather than another spew in the media angering the rest of the country is very rare. This situation was another thing for people to be angry about–that's reasonable–but not many thought about voicing genuine support for more than one tweet, one hashtag. It was a terrible thing that happen, but witnessing the humanity in it all was a historical experience that I unintentionally stood in the midst of.

Tragedy is very real, but there can be beauty hidden in the cracks. Don't just have an opinion; put it to good work. Build bridges, and break down barriers. You are more powerful than any act of hate, so put that power to good use.