[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 108 (Wednesday, July 6, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1046]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  IN MEMORY OF THE SLAIN AFTER THE ONE-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF THE MOTHER 
                      EMANUEL AME CHURCH MASSACRE

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. MARK SANFORD

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                        Wednesday, July 6, 2016

  Mr. SANFORD. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in memory of the nine men and 
women who were murdered in my district at the Mother Emanuel African 
Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17, 
2015.
   With it now being just over a year since the tragedy occurred, our 
thoughts and prayers continue to go out to the victims and their 
families. Their names once again are Cynthia Graham Hurd, Susie 
Jackson, Ethel Lance, The Reverend DePayne Middleton-Doctor, The 
Reverend Clementa C. Pinckney, Tywanza Sanders, The Reverend Daniel 
Simmons Sr., The Reverend Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, and Myra 
Thompson.
   I submit this poem penned in their honor by Albert Carey Caswell.


                      in the darkest of all nights

     In the darkest of all nights
     When all hope seems to taken flight
     While, such heartache begins,
     so ignites
     As evil has its day
     Only then can faith upon us shine its bright light
     As from out of these the darkest of all nights
     To so fight the good fight
     Of Good vs. Evil,
     for we are all God's chosen people
     to wipe out this blight
     And when it all seems without reason or rhyme,
     all in hatred darkest of times
     Seasons
     Remember it is not by chance,
     for this battle has always raged since the beginning of man
     For there is darkness,
     and there is Light
     We choose the side upon which we wish to so fight
     Let us enjoin now as Black and as White
     As American's first,
     colorblind to hatred's sight
     For we all have the same heart
     For we are all are born to live and to die,
     and to play our part
     As all of those Mothers who now stand with tears in their 
           eyes and broken hearts
     But remember my friends,
     over The Darkness of Evil we all can so fend
     Because The Darkness is no match for The Light,
     if together we enjoin in this fight
     If we ask our Lord for the strength for this battle to win
     In this most unspeakable of all crimes in our Lord's house in 
           this sin
     As they knelt down to pray,
     as around a total stranger their arms they had laid
     To commune and speak of our Lord,
     as together they prayed
     As those nine future Angels were so soon to be on heaven's 
           way
     As they did not realize before them what Evil so lay
     But remember my friends,
     the face of evil can so easily be hidden away
     In these The darkest of all nights,
     darkest of all days
     As nine beautiful souls of gold,
     were taken from all of us this day
     From our world in evil's blight as they prayed
     As our world has been cheated of The Light that they gave
     As nine families across South Carolina so weep on this day
     And hate is hard,
     and oh how upon me it so weighs
     When, I see all those tears in your families faces
     As we now so weep
     all in what their beautiful lives were to keep
     But through all of this darkness we all must somehow be brave
     And if we look closely,
     we can still see their light through all of that pain
     As all across Charleston on this night but comes a gentle 
           rain
     Washing down upon their loved ones to so ease their pain
     for these are the tears of our Lord,
     upon them to remain
     Until, up in Heaven you all meet again,
     and you won't have to cry no more
     Take heart my brothers and sisters,
     all of your loved ones in Heaven remain
     as Angels the same
     And you will hear them on the wind
     And when you awake,
     you will feel them next to you where they've been
     For they are Angels now in the Army of our Lord
     To watch over you time and again
     To fight this war which has always been
     Now, let us find rest
     Let, us find peace
     Let us be as strong as once had all these
     all in their beliefs
     Let us not us find the same such dark hatred which evil so 
           keeps
     As united together we stand,
     let us put arms around each other women, child, and man
     Black or White, let us not follow the hatred's same disease
     As it's time to bring all of our love and light to fight The 
           Beast
     And from a distance what seems like the worst
     Perhaps isn't,
     for up in Heaven we all wish to wake
     As its down here on Earth,
     in the darkest of all nights we must fight evil curse
     Goodness. Evil. Darkness. Light.
     Those braves hearts who Evil must fight
     Who bring their Light
     As together enjoined,
     as we battle on into the darkest of all nights
     And its in our faith this day which will help us move on
     For Evil and Darkness are no match for The Light
     In these the darkest all nights
     Amen!

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