Mother Emanuel

Two Centuries of Race, Resistance, and Forgiveness in One Charleston Church

By: Kevin Sack

Narrated by: William DeMeritt

ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES’ TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • A sweeping history of one of the nation’s most important African American churches and a profound story of courage and grace amid the fight for racial justice—from Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist Kevin Sack

“A masterpiece . . . a dense, rich, captivating narrative, featuring vivid prose . . . expansive, inspiring and hugely important.”—The New York Times (Editors’ Choice)

“Race, religion, and terror combine for an extraordinary story of America.”—Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., bestselling author of Begin Again

A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Kirkus Reviews

Few people beyond South Carolina’s Lowcountry knew of Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston—Mother Emanuel—before the night of June 17, 2015, when a twenty-one-year-old white supremacist walked into Bible study and slaughtered the church’s charismatic pastor and eight other worshippers. Although the shooter had targeted Mother Emanuel—the first A.M.E. church in the South—to agitate racial strife, he did not anticipate the aftermath: an outpouring of forgiveness from the victims’ families and a reckoning with the divisions of caste that have afflicted Charleston and the South since the earliest days of European settlement.

Mother Emanuel explores the fascinating history that brought the church to that moment and the depth of the desecration committed in its fellowship hall. It reveals how African Methodism was cultivated from the harshest American soil, and how Black suffering shaped forgiveness into both a religious practice and a survival tool. Kevin Sack, who has written about race in his native South for more than four decades, uses the church to trace the long arc of Black life in the city where nearly half of enslaved Africans disembarked in North America and where the Civil War began. Through the microcosm of one congregation, he explores the development of a unique practice of Christianity, from its daring breakaway from white churches in 1817, through the traumas of Civil War and Reconstruction, to its critical role in the Civil Rights Movement and beyond.

At its core, Mother Emanuel is an epic tale of perseverance, not just of a congregation but of a people who withstood enslavement, Jim Crow, and all manner of violence with an unbending faith.

Fascinating stories, extraordinary writing

A fascinating and beautifully written read. Rich in story, suspense, surprise, and (remarkably well-chosen) metaphors. The research is stunning, the writing style refreshing and breezy. Highly recommend.

The dramatic story of a people perpetually wronged, rising above.

The reader was good, EXCEPT he consistently mispronounced “Calvary”, saying “cavalry “ instead of, which drove me crazy.
He did that to 2 other words, too, but I don’t recall them; only the shudder.

Needed truth

Factual and informative - America needs to read this - although most insecure people won’t dare to take the risk

Incredible

Beautifully honest and written. The research is amazing. The depth and descriptions of each era, each person , each segment of this story made history interesting, religion meaningful, and the psychology of human strength , suffering, and survival respected. The narrator was excellent, but having lived in Charleston - his pronunciations of Hasell, Edisto, Spoleto, Ravenel, , Legare were not Charlestonian!

Book of the Year

This book is more than just about Emanuel and the tragedy that took place. It’s a book of historical facts of black history, especially black Charleston history that I was unaware of. As a native Charlestonian I appreciate it so much.