Duluth Church Hosts Vigil for Charleston Church Shooting
A Chance to Remember, Mourn, and Learn
Sorry, this video is no longer available
Duluthians paused to mourn.
“Right now, we all are kind of still shell shocked at the magnitude of what happened,” said Carl Crawford, Vice President of the Duluth Branch of the NAACP.
To understand.
“What are we doing as a nation? What are we teaching each other?” Crawford asked.
And to heal.
Last week’s church shooting in Charleston, South Carolina that left nine dead and launched a hate crime investigation, has people across the nation feeling lost.
“You can think this is in Charleston, which it is, but it could certainly happen here,” said Duluthian Gay Trachsel .
Monday, tragedy united this Duluth community.
“I think always when people come together, when there are all different faces and when people really can share the pain, that there might be some comfort in that,” Trachsel said.
Gathering to pray and reflect.
“Our church has been our sanctuary,” said Revered Michael Gonzalez.
“But this action has caused us to stop and look at our nation,” Crawford admitted.
But most importantly, to continue the conversation about racism in America.
“We all have the opportunity, each and every one of us – teachers, parents, faculty, staff, coaches – when we hear these things to stop and question and challenge, ‘Where did this come from?’” Crawford explained.
“If it ends here, it hasn’t accomplished very much. It’s got to go beyond this,” exclaimed Trachsel.
Because just one little pause could have rewritten history.
“He paused for one moment, and said maybe I shouldn’t do this,” explained Crawford. “Before crime or violence happens, we need to take that moment to find that pause and say, ‘Is there an opportunity to change this?’ The story didn’t have to end the way it did.”
St. Mark’s Church, where the service took place, is in the same family of churches as the one in South Carolina where the shooting happened.
The shooting occurred on the eve of Juneteenth, a day that celebrates the freeing of the last African-American slaves in the U.S.
