Alana Simmons tells DiversityInc how her organization and Dr. Bernice A. King will commemorate the deaths of the Emanuel 9.
By Sheryl Estrada
Alana_Simmons Alana Simmons
“When I spoke to [Dylann] Roof in the bond hearing a few days after the massacre I said to him, ‘Although my grandfather died at the hands of h**e, he lived in love and he preached love so his legacy will be love and h**e won’t win,’” Alana Simmons told DiversityInc on Thursday.
Simmons, 26, founder of H**e Won’t Win Movement, Inc., is the granddaughter of Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr. He was one of the nine Black church members murdered by Dylann Roof during a Bible study at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, 2015.
The U.S. Department of Justice, which deemed Roof’s actions a h**e crime, announced in May that it will seek the death penalty. In addition, he faces the death penalty in state court, with a trial scheduled to begin in January.
Simmons said that after she confronted Roof, she and others started using the hashtag #H**eWontWin on social media.
Alana Simmons tells DiversityInc how her organization and Dr. Bernice A. King will commemorate the deaths of the Emanuel 9.
By Sheryl Estrada
Alana_Simmons Alana Simmons
“When I spoke to [Dylann] Roof in the bond hearing a few days after the massacre I said to him, ‘Although my grandfather died at the hands of h**e, he lived in love and he preached love so his legacy will be love and h**e won’t win,’” Alana Simmons told DiversityInc on Thursday.
Simmons, 26, founder of H**e Won’t Win Movement, Inc., is the granddaughter of Rev. Daniel Simmons Sr. He was one of the nine Black church members murdered by Dylann Roof during a Bible study at the historic Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, on June 17, 2015.
The U.S. Department of Justice, which deemed Roof’s actions a h**e crime, announced in May that it will seek the death penalty. In addition, he faces the death penalty in state court, with a trial scheduled to begin in January.
Simmons said that after she confronted Roof, she and others started using the hashtag #H**eWontWin on social media.
That ain't only the t***h...it's an understatement.... ....This (OPP) has been an opportunity to confirm what I always thought about the right. H**eful and possesses the same mentality as their parents and grandparents generations......Kevyn once posted a statement about the unique opportunity OPP offers...it was profound indeed.