Reverend Clementa Pinckney, senator and senior pastor at Mother Emanuel A.M.E. in Charleston, South Carolina, will be remembered for his dedication to public service and spirituality. Fellow state senator Marlon Kimpson described him as "a giant, a legend, a moral compass,"
Portrait of Reverend Clementa Pinckney, 24" x 18", 2017
Reverend Pinckney and the eight others who were murdered at the church have become symbols. Positive symbols of love and resistance, I think; spiritual symbols connecting all of humanity as one. We face conflict and fight on, crack, struggle, rise, fall, and rise again. Although they were victims of hate, they have risen and are glowing emblems of our push to create a more culturally cohesive society that appreciates and celebrates differences. Hate won't win.