South-Carolina
South Carolina Episcopalians embark on civil rights pilgrimage commemorating Selma to Montgomery marches
Members of the Diocese of South Carolina embarked on a racial justice pilgrimage March 7-10, 2025, to Atlanta, Georgia, and Montgomery and Selma, Alabama. They marched across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches that led to the adoption of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting. Photo: Courtesy of Michael Shaffer
[Episcopal News Service] As part of its ongoing commitment to racial reconciliation and education work, 46 people from the Charleston-based Diocese of South Carolina last week embarked on a racial justice pilgrimage to civil rights landmarks, museums and memorials in Atlanta, Georgia, and Montgomery and Selma, Alabama.
Downtown Charleston’s three historically Black parishes – Calvary Episcopal Church, St. Mark’s Episcopal Church and St. Stephen’s Church, known collectively as the Three Churches United – led the March 6-10 diocesan pilgrimage, which commemorated the 60th anniversary of the three 54-mile Selma to Montgomery marches organized by civil rights activists to demand that voting rights be granted to Black Americans.
“These activists knew in the recesses of their hearts and their souls that what they were doing was right, and the way that they were being treated was wrong, especially with the right to vote,” the Rev. Ricardo Bailey, Calvary’s rector, told Episcopal News Service. “The powers that be at the time knew that if voting were accessible to Black folk, then the whole mindset of Jim Crow and racism and segregation were imminently going to be threatened.”
The first march, which took place on March 7, 1965, is known today as “Bloody Sunday” because Alabama state troopers assaulted more than 600 nonviolent civil rights marchers, led by John Lewis, as they were crossing the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma. Two days later, Martin Luther King Jr. led 2,500 marchers over the bridge and said a brief prayer before turning everyone around because of a court order preventing them from making the full march. Later that night, three white Unitarian Universalist ministers who were in town for the march were attacked by Ku Klux Klan members, killing the Rev. James Reeb. On March 21, nearly 8,000 people gathered at the historic Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church in Selma to march to Montgomery after U.S. district judge Frank Minis Johnson ruled in favor of their right to protest. The final march concluded on March 25 with 25,000 people gathering on the steps of the Alabama State Capitol, where King delivered his “How Long, Not Long” speech. The marches led to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.
“What many people fail to realize is that the crux of the Civil Rights Movement – with the loss of lives, the marches, the violence, all of it – really existed around the whole aspect of the right to vote,” Bailey said. “When you’re able to vote, you’re able to vote for people who you entrust with governance over you … You are able to vote people into office who can help to enact, as well as legislate, just laws.”
The Rev. Laura Rezac, executive director of Camp St. Christopher in Seabrook Island, with support from the Three Churches United and South Carolina Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley, organized the diocesan pilgrimage, which began in Atlanta at the Absalom Jones Center for Racial Healing and the Martin Luther King Jr. Center of Nonviolent Social Change. From there, the pilgrims – most of whom were parishioners of the Three Churches United – drove together to Montgomery to visit the Legacy Museum: From Enslavement to Mass Incarceration, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, informally known as the National Lynching Memorial, and the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park.
“The itinerary and the daily devotions selected for prayer and reflection while on the pilgrimage – everything was chosen with purpose and intention,” Rezac told ENS. “How people choose to act on the experiences they had moving forward in the weeks and months to come will indicate the program’s success. I believe that this group of people will listen to how the Holy Spirit is telling them to use that work in our context here in Charleston.”
On March 9, before joining thousands of other people who were also in town to commemorate the Selma to Montgomery marches and Bloody Sunday, the South Carolina pilgrims gathered at Brown Chapel A.M.E. Church to listen to Bryan Stevenson, a lawyer and founder and executive director of the Montgomery-based Equal Justice Initiative, preach. The Equal Justice Initiative provides legal representation to incarcerated people who may have been wrongly convicted of crimes, low-income people and people who may have been denied a fair trial. It also founded the Legacy Museum, the National Memorial for Peace and Justice and the Freedom Monument Sculpture Park.
“He reminded us that it’s kind of become a theme that grace and mercy seem to have been put on trial recently by many of our politicians and judges, and we the church need to do more to follow our scriptural mandate and act justly in love and mercy and walk humbly with God,” the Rev. Michael Shaffer, interim rector of St. Mark’s, told ENS. “Hearing that before going outside to walk across the [Edmund Pettus] Bridge, I felt like we were living into our calling as disciples of Christ.”
Michigan Bishop Bonnie Perry, left, South Carolina Bishop Ruth Woodliff-Stanley, center, an a lay leader in the Diocese of Michigan, right, visited historic sites in Alabama as part of their respective diocesan civil rights pilgrimages commemorating the 60th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery marches that led to the adoption of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965, which prohibits racial discrimination in voting. They joined thousands of other people to march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, where the marches started. March 9, 2025. Photo: Courtesy of Ruth Woodliff-Stanley
While marching across the 1,248-foot bridge, the South Carolina pilgrims unexpectedly ran into the 56 pilgrims from the Detroit-based Diocese of Michigan. Bishop Bonnie Perry was part of the group.
Woodliff-Stanley, a descendant of slaveholders who lived in Charleston, told ENS that she thought about the courage of people who didn’t let Bloody Sunday stop them from committing their fight for Black Americans’ right to vote. She also said that the interactive Legacy Museum left a large impression on her, making her reflect on U.S. history.
“This country sits on top the displacement of Indigenous people, and on top of that is the transatlantic slave trade and the domestic slave trade, and all the wealth and prosperity that was made started with the watery graves of the enslaved Africans [during the Middle Passage],” Woodliff-Stanley said. “Now, there’s an attempt to erase our story of race in America from school curricula … it makes really clear the work before us now, in both reading and seeing these historic sites in person.”
Throughout the pilgrimage, the group – which included a mix of Black and white pilgrims, including two teenagers – engaged in prayer, reflection and discussion. The Rev. Adam Shoemaker, rector of St. Stephen’s, told ENS that the timing is “very poignant” considering President Donald Trump’s recent executive orders targeting diversity, equity and inclusion.
“I believe this group, collectively, is in agreement that there’s a lot going on in the world right now, and to be in Selma to mark this anniversary at this particular time … reminded us that we need to keep pushing forward,” he said.
Established in 1663, South Carolina was the first British North American colony founded as a “slave society.” Charleston was the largest slave trading and auction city in the United States with as many as 260,000 West Africans sent there between 1670 and 1808. Most – about 40% – disembarked in Gadsden’s Wharf, the largest single point of entry for enslaved Africans, which is now the site of the International African American Museum. By the 18th century, the city had the highest number of enslaved people in the country. The Three Churches United are located within two miles of the museum.
In 2020, the Diocese of South Carolina recommitted to its racial reconciliation work when it formed the Diocesan Racial Justice and Reconciliation Commission to increase the awareness of racial history and to promote and enable racial justice and reconciliation throughout the diocese and in wider communities. Part of those racial reconciliation efforts includes maintaining and sustaining the diocese’s historically Black churches and working to hire additional Black clergy.
The commission, which consists of clergy and laity, regularly hosts educational events throughout the diocese, including at Voorhees University in Denmark, one of two historically Black colleges with Episcopal roots. The commission also facilitates the diocese’s Sacred Ground circles. Sacred Ground is the church’s antiracism curriculum that was initially developed as a resource to learn about the history of racism in the United States and how that racism continues to manifest itself today in American social interactions and institutions, including the church.
The commission additionally hosts learning days to teach the history of the Diocese of South Carolina, including its complicity in slavery. The next learning day, taking place on March 29 at the Church of the Epiphany in Summerville, will highlight the history of the church and its benefactor, Catherine B. “Kitty” Smith Springs, a prominent businesswoman of color.
Even though the pilgrimage highlighted traumatic points in U.S. history, Bailey said there also was “a lot of joy” for him at times.
“Seeing some of our Black elders and how much it meant for them to be there with this group, I was really moved to tears more than once on this pilgrimage,” he said. “To witness history through their eyes … we’ve got to be courageous and continue working together.”
-Shireen Korkzan is a reporter and assistant editor for Episcopal News Service. She can be reached at skorkzan@episcopalchurch.org.
South-Carolina
Missouri’s new US House map goes to court while Louisiana and South Carolina consider redistricting
Missouri’s top court is hearing an important legal challenge Tuesday to one of President Donald Trump’s earliest redistricting successes while lawmakers in Louisiana and South Carolina weigh whether to become the most recent Republican states to redraw U.S. House districts ahead of the midterm elections.
Rather than waning, a national redistricting battle that began 10 months ago has intensified as the November elections draw nearer — inflamed by a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that weakened the federal Voting Rights Act and provided grounds for states to try to eliminate voting districts with large minority populations.
Missouri was the second Republican state after Texas to heed Trump’s call last year to redraw congressional districts to help the GOP win additional seats in the midterms. At issue before the Missouri Supreme Court is whether the new districts violate a state constitutional requirement to be compact, and whether they can remain in place for this year’s elections despite an initiative petition seeking to force a public referendum.
In South Carolina, the issue facing Republican lawmakers is whether redrawing the state’s lone Democratic-held seat could open the door to a clean sweep for Republicans or backfire with additional losses by making more districts competitive for Democrats. State senators must decide whether to allow consideration of a redistricting plan put forth in the House after the legislature’s regular work ends Thursday.
Congressional redistricting also is under consideration in Louisiana, where the Supreme Court’s recent ruling invalidated a majority-Black district as an illegal racial gerrymander. The state’s May 16 congressional primaries already have been postponed. What remains undecided is how many seats Republicans will try to pick up while redrawing the districts.
Alabama also is poised to switch its congressional districts for this year’s elections, after the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday overturned an order for it to use a map with two largely Black districts.
Republicans think they could gain as many as 14 seats from new House maps enacted so far in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Florida and Tennessee. Democrats, meanwhile, think they could gain six seats from new maps in California and Utah. The Virginia Supreme Court last week struck down a redistricting effort that could have yielded four more winnable seats for Democrats.
Republican South Carolina Rep. Jackie Terribile looks at a proposed map of new U.S. House districts for South Carolina on Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Columbia, S.C. Credit: AP/Jeffrey Collins
South Carolina weighs political risks of redistricting
A South Carolina House committee is to consider Tuesday whether to send a congressional redistricting plan to the full chamber for debate. The House also appears poised to pass legislation that could delay the June 9 congressional primaries until August to allow time for new districts to be enacted. That comes even as some absentee and overseas military ballots already have been cast.
But any redistricting effort also must clear the Senate, where support is less certain. Two-thirds of senators have to agree before the regular General Assembly session ends Thursday to let the legislature take up redistricting later.
Trump said on social media Monday that he was closely watching the redistricting vote, urging South Carolina senators to “be bold and courageous” and to delay the House primaries so new districts can be drawn.
Although Republicans have a supermajority in the chamber, several senators aren’t sure the proposed map guarantees the GOP will win seat held by long-serving Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn. And they think enough Democratic voters could be pushed into other districts that the plan could backfire, resulting in a 5-2 or even a 4-3 Republican split.
The Missouri Capitol is seen Monday, Feb. 9, 2026, in Jefferson City, Mo. Credit: AP/David A. Lieb
Some also question whether it is fair for Republicans to get all the seats in a state where the Democratic presidential candidate has gotten at least 40% of the vote every election this century, even if Trump is asking for the new map.
Louisiana GOP looks to target one or two seats
State Sen. Caleb Kleinpeter, a Republican who oversees the Louisiana Senate committee tasked with redistricting, said his panel plans to vote Tuesday on a U.S. House map, with a full Senate vote expected Thursday.
The committee has several options, including versions that would leave Democrats favored in only one district or none. Kleinpeter said a map eliminating all majority-Black districts would be difficult to hold up in court.
Last Friday, dozens of people urged lawmakers to retain two majority-Black districts during a grueling nine-hour hearing that featured civil rights activists and the only four Black congressmen elected to represent the state since the end of the Reconstruction era.
Missouri map splits Kansas City district
Missouri currently is represented in the U.S. House by six Republicans and two Democrats under a map passed by the Republican-led legislature after the 2020 census. But with Trump’s backing, Republican state officials adopted a new map last September that improves their chances of winning an additional seat by targeting a Kansas City district held by longtime Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, who previously was the city’s first Black mayor.
The new House map places portions of Kansas City in neighboring Republican districts and stretches the remainder of Cleaver’s 5th District far eastward into Republican-heavy rural areas. A state judge in March rejected an assertion that the map violates a constitutional compactness requirement, finding that the new districts on average are more compact — even if the 5th District is not. That was appealed to the state Supreme Court.
A separate case also being argued Tuesday at the state Supreme Court contends the new districts should have been automatically suspended in December when opponents submitted more than 300,000 petition signatures seeking to force a statewide referendum.
But Republican Attorney General Catherine Hanaway and Republican Secretary of State Denny Hoskins contend the new districts can be suspended only if — and after — Hoskins determines the petition meets constitutional requirements and has enough valid signatures. Hoskins has until Aug. 4, the day of Missouri’s primary elections, to make that determination.
A state judge in March agreed with the Republicans’ position while also ruling that the plaintiffs lacked grounds to sue and had done so too soon.
VIDEO: Alan Wilson shares what he’s learned from governor’s campaign so far
Alan Wilson shares what he’s learned from governor’s campaign so far during a campaign stop in Greer, South Carolina.
Attorney General Alan Wilson started his campaign visit to the Upstate on Monday, May 11, at the Clock of Greer restaurant, where he worked the drive-through window and spoke with diners inside.
Wilson, who has been in the governor’s race since late June, has spent the past 10 months traveling the state and connecting with voters.
Wilson is one of six Republicans running to be South Carolina’s next governor. His competitors are Lt. Gov. Pamela Evette, U.S. Reps. Nancy Mace, District 1, and Ralph Norman, District 5, DOGE SC founder Rom Reddy, and State Sen. Josh Kimbrell, Spartanburg.
Wilson brought his campaign for governor to the Upstate, with less than a month left until the primary.
“You learn so much when you go on a listening tour,” Wilson said. “It’s not just about me telling people what I want to do as their governor. It’s about learning from people what they want their governor to do for them.”
Wilson’s campaign platform includes investing in education, improving infrastructure, cutting wasteful government spending, expanding rural healthcare access, and enforcing federal immigration law. After traveling the state, he believes affordability is a top issue for South Carolinians in this election cycle.
“There’s a lot of things going on around the world that we can’t control the price of,” Wilson said. “But there’s things that we can do as a state to react better to it.”
Wilson often polls as a top candidate that Republican voters would choose to support in the primary. A recent poll conducted by The Trafalgar Group, an Atlanta-based polling firm, reported that 23% of likely Republican voters would vote for him in the primaries.
The same poll found that roughly 25% of voters backed Evette, 20% backed Norman, 15% backed Mace, 10% backed Reddy, and 4% backed Kimbrell. Roughly 3% backed Jacqueline Dubose, a Republican candidate who has been disqualified from the primaries. The poll had a 2.9% margin of error.
Wilson said he is running for office to be accessible to South Carolinians and accountable for his actions. He said his experience as a combat veteran and as the state’s attorney general sets him apart from other candidates.
“I have a proven record of serving this state and a proven record of fighting for what people want,” Wilson said. “I believe I will be a great governor.”
The gubernatorial primary will be held on June 9 and will determine which Republican candidate advances to the general election in November. There are also three Democrats running: State Rep. Jermaine Johnson, Richland, Upstate business owner Billy Webster, and Charleston attorney Mullins McLeod.
Bella Carpentier covers the South Carolina legislature, state, and Greenville County politics. Contact her at bcarpentier@gannett.com
Powerball, Mega Millions jackpots: What to know in case you win
Here’s what to know in case you win the Powerball or Mega Millions jackpot.
Just the FAQs, USA TODAY
The South Carolina Education Lottery offers several draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 10, 2026, results for each game:
Winning Pick 3 Plus FIREBALL numbers from May 10 drawing
Evening: 0-4-0, FB: 1
Check Pick 3 Plus FIREBALL payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 4 Plus FIREBALL numbers from May 10 drawing
Evening: 3-6-6-7, FB: 1
Check Pick 4 Plus FIREBALL payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Cash Pop numbers from May 10 drawing
Evening: 04
Check Cash Pop payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Palmetto Cash 5 numbers from May 10 drawing
15-17-24-32-42
Check Palmetto Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
Are you a winner? Here’s how to claim your lottery prize
The South Carolina Education Lottery provides multiple ways to claim prizes, depending on the amount won:
For prizes up to $500, you can redeem your winnings directly at any authorized South Carolina Education Lottery retailer. Simply present your signed winning ticket at the retailer for an immediate payout.
Winnings $501 to $100,000, may be redeemed by mailing your signed winning ticket along with a completed claim form and a copy of a government-issued photo ID to the South Carolina Education Lottery Claims Center. For security, keep copies of your documents and use registered mail to ensure the safe arrival of your ticket.
SC Education Lottery
P.O. Box 11039
Columbia, SC 29211-1039
For large winnings above $100,000, claims must be made in person at the South Carolina Education Lottery Headquarters in Columbia. To claim, bring your signed winning ticket, a completed claim form, a government-issued photo ID, and your Social Security card for identity verification. Winners of large prizes may also set up an Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) for convenient direct deposit of winnings.
Columbia Claims Center
1303 Assembly Street
Columbia, SC 29201
Claim Deadline: All prizes must be claimed within 180 days of the draw date for draw games.
For more details and to access the claim form, visit the South Carolina Lottery claim page.
When are the South Carolina Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 10:59 p.m. ET on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 11 p.m. ET on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3: Daily at 12:59 p.m. (Midday) and 6:59 p.m. (Evening).
- Pick 4: Daily at 12:59 p.m. (Midday) and 6:59 p.m. (Evening).
- Cash Pop: Daily at 12:59 p.m. (Midday) and 6:59 p.m. (Evening).
- Palmetto Cash 5: 6:59 p.m. ET daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a South Carolina editor. You can send feedback using this form.
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