Recommended read from Salon.com: Black faith is under attack: How to make sense of white supremacy's Charleston crimes

"Roof’s targeting of a place of worship is an attempt to compromise the safety and sanctity of the black church. Before Wednesday night, the black church seemed to be one of the few places left where black folk could assemble in public and feel seen, recognized, heard, loved and welcome. (We know from the not-so-distant past that those spaces are not the private communities in which we live, not store parking lots, not Walmart stores, not public parks,not street corners, not swimming pools, not even our homes.)"