Amazing Grace
The USA President, Barack Obama, delivered a remarkable eulogy to Rev Clementa Pinckney following
the shooting of him and others in his Bible study group in the USA last month. The full text is at http://
edition.cnn.com/2015/06/27/politics/obama-eulogy-clementa-pinckney/index.html. Here are some extracts:
Over the course of centuries, black churches served as "hush harbors" where slaves could
worship in safety; praise houses where their free descendants could gather and shout
hallelujah; rest stops for the weary along the Underground Railroad; bunkers for the foot
soldiers of the Civil Rights Movement. They have been, and continue to be, community centres
where we organize for jobs and justice; places of scholarship and network; places where
children are loved and fed and kept out of harm's way, and told that they are beautiful and
smart and taught that they mat ѕȸ