As he concluded his speech, in which he lauded the patriotism of the Black church, Biden drew on a song popularized by gospel artist James Cleveland — “I Don’t Feel No Ways Tired” — to round out the president’s themes about truth, democracy and faith.
“This is a time of choosing, so let us choose the truth; let us choose America,” he said. “I know we can do it together and, as the gospel song sings, ‘We’ve come too far from where we started. Nobody told me the road would be easy. I don’t believe he brought me this far to leave me.’ My fellow Americans, I don’t think the good Lord brought us this far to leave us behind.”
Two days before Biden’s address at Mother Emanuel, Vice President Kamala Harris also visited South Carolina and spoke in a different African Methodist Episcopal setting.
Sounding similar themes as the president, Harris spoke at the annual retreat of the AME Church’s Seventh Episcopal District’s Women’s Missionary Society.
“In moments such as this, when we as a nation witness so much hate, conflict, and attempts to divide, it is our faith that often guides us forward,” she said, “faith in what we cannot see yet know to be true; faith in the promise of our nation — freedom, liberty, and equality — not for some, but for all.”
This article originally appeared here.
