This morning I went to the North Charleston City Hall to attend a rally concerning the recent shooting here. This diary is not meant to be a comprehensive analysis or even a thorough news report, these are just my thoughts, my diary.
There were about 200 people gathered in front of City Hall, with people holding up signs and barely audible speakers having their say, occasionally leading chants of "No Justice, No peace," or, "Black Lives Matter!"
The place was swarming with reporters and camera operators and satellite trucks. I stood at the edge of the crowd, my eyes occasionally welling up from some awful feeling I cannot name. Perhaps frustration, or anger, or just sadness at the events unfolding in my city.
The reporters were eager to interview people and create usable sound-bites for the corporate news, and one middle-aged black male who I didn't recognize seemed in demand, as I saw him speaking with an apparently high-ranking police officer at one point and being interviewed more than once.
At one point a reporter and camera person stood with him near the edge of the crowd near me and I could overhear his words sometimes between the clapping or chanting.
I paraphrase the best I can recall, but I'm certain I heard him say, "I have always supported peace and non-violence, but if there is no conviction, I will have failed, because this place will explode."
As I sit and type these words my eyes well-up again, because I know he is right. There are deep divides in this city, and the mood is tense.