S.C. Sen. Pinckney remembered in solemn Washington ceremony

S.C. state Sen. Clementa Pinckney should have graduated with his classmates on Monday. The lawmaker-pastor should have walked down the aisle of the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., to receive his doctorate from Wesley Theological Seminary, waving to family members and taking photos.

Instead, his widow and two young daughters stood at the altar on a rainy afternoon to accept the posthumous degree on his behalf.

“Clementa, you did it,” said Jennifer Pinckney, the late pastor’s wife.

Her daughters, Eliana and Malana, stood by her side, clutching their father’s diploma and the hood that symbolized his academic achievement.

“This is a bittersweet moment for my family and me. A few years ago, I remember Clementa telling us about this day – the day he would graduate – and that the whole family would be here,” she said. “Boy, how life can change in an instant.”

Pinckney was slain along with eight others by a white supremacist while leading a Wednesday night Bible study last June at the historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston. He was 41.

“Among the many responsibilities my husband had – husband, father, brother, son, senator, pastor – he still found time in his busy schedule to pursue his education to the highest degree,” his widow said. “I remember many evenings going to his `man cave' and finding him asleep with a book and a pen in his hand.”

When he was slain, Pinckney already had completed the coursework for his doctorate, which he began in 2012, and was working on his dissertation about the double vocation of pastors and public servants in the African-American community. The Wesley faculty voted unanimously to award the degree to his wife on his behalf, “with the understanding that his final act of courage in his Bible study was the `completion' of his degree,” according to a statement from the seminary.

In Monday’s commencement ceremony, Pinckney was honored in song and dance, and by a letter from President Barack Obama.

“When Clem was taken from us last year ... he was still working on his dissertation, seeking to explain how those called to serve the Lord could also answer the call to serve our democracy,” Obama said in the letter, read by seminary president David McAllister-Wilson. “He did not view these noble callings as working in conflict with one another but rather as working in concert with one another.”

Obama delivered a passionate eulogy for Pinckney last summer, denouncing the racially motivated shooting and leading the congregation in singing “Amazing Grace.”

In his letter, Obama said Pinckney had once said, “Our calling is not just within the walls of the congregation, but the life and community in which our congregation resides.”

“What better way to honor his example today, at the National Cathedral, than by committing your lives to that blessed work,” Obama wrote.

Born in Beaufort, Pinckney began preaching in his church when he was just 13 and became a pastor at age 18. He had led the Emanuel AME church in Charleston, the oldest African Methodist Episcopal church in the southern United States, for five years when he was killed.

Pinckney was the youngest African American to be elected to the S.C. Legislature when he joined the General Assembly at 23, and became a state senator in 2000.

One of the Democratic legislator’s last actions was co-sponsoring and building support for a bill requiring police officers to wear body cameras. The bill was passed after Walter Scott, an unarmed North Charleston black man, was shot and killed by a white police officer.

Dancers from the seminary, dressed in white and waving colorful scarves, performed a dance in Pinckney’s honor to music performed by the U.S. Army Field Band.

The commencement program said the ceremony honored Pinckney’s spirit, hoping to “bring to life the dream of a world where doubt, hate, pride and fear have all disappeared.”

The commencement had the usual graduation atmosphere, with hugs, cheering and joyful whooping from family members. But the defining moment was the presentation of Pinckney’s diploma. Even the graduation photographers paused to collect themselves.

Faculty, graduates and others in attendance punctuated Jennifer Pinckney’s speech with heartfelt “amens,” giving her and her daughters a standing ovation, applause that echoed in the cathedral.

“You accomplished a goal that many people dream of,” she said, addressing her late husband at the end of her speech. “And even though you’re not here to walk with your fellow classmates physically, I know you’re with us spiritually. Your legacy lives on.”

This story was originally published May 9, 2016 at 7:20 PM with the headline "S.C. Sen. Pinckney remembered in solemn Washington ceremony."