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The Virtual Book Club

The Virtual Book Club is a program made possible with the help of the South Carolina Christian Action Council (SCCAC). Throughout the year, we gather together for "teach-ins" over Zoom to discuss books about the death penalty. Each book features the voice of someone impacted by capital punishment, or a topic connected to death penalty alternatives. We occasionally have authors tune into our talks. Check out our upcoming events and join us for the conversation!

  • SCADP Monthly Info Session
    SCADP Monthly Info Session
    Multiple Dates
    Tue, May 07
    Zoom
    May 07, 2024, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
    Zoom
    May 07, 2024, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
    Zoom
    Join us for an hour-long online conversation to learn more about the state of the death penalty in South Carolina, the work of SCADP, and how you can get involved. If you want to volunteer or simply connect with others across the state interested in abolishing the death penalty, start here!
  • SCADP Monthly Organizing Meetup
    SCADP Monthly Organizing Meetup
    Multiple Dates
    Tue, May 21
    Zoom
    May 21, 2024, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
    Zoom
    May 21, 2024, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
    Zoom
    Join us the 2nd Tuesday of each month, 6-7 p.m., by Zoom, to build our organizing capacity.
  • Virtual Book Club: May 2024
    Virtual Book Club: May 2024
    Thu, May 23
    Virtual Book Club: May 2024
    May 23, 2024, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
    Virtual Book Club: May 2024
    May 23, 2024, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
    Virtual Book Club: May 2024
    Join us as we discuss "How High the Moon," a children's chapter book by Karyn Parsons!
  • Virtual Book Club: July Movie Night!
    Virtual Book Club: July Movie Night!
    Thu, Jul 25
    Virtual Book Club: July Movie Night!
    Jul 25, 2024, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EDT
    Virtual Book Club: July Movie Night!
    Jul 25, 2024, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM EDT
    Virtual Book Club: July Movie Night!
    Join us as we watch the film "In the Executioner's Shadow" and discuss it with guest panelists!
  • Virtual Book Club: September 2024
    Virtual Book Club: September 2024
    Thu, Sep 26
    Virtual Book Club: September 2024
    Sep 26, 2024, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
    Virtual Book Club: September 2024
    Sep 26, 2024, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
    Virtual Book Club: September 2024
    Join us as we discuss "You Shall Not Condemn: A Story of Faith and Advocacy on Death Row" by Rev. Dr. Jennifer McBride!
  • Virtual Book Club: November 2024
    Virtual Book Club: November 2024
    Thu, Nov 21
    Virtual Book Club: November 2024
    Nov 21, 2024, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST
    Virtual Book Club: November 2024
    Nov 21, 2024, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EST
    Virtual Book Club: November 2024
    Join us as we discuss "Life Sentences: Writings from Inside an American Prison" edited by The Elsinore-Bennu Think Tank of Restorative Justice!
  • Virtual Book Club: March 2024
    Virtual Book Club: March 2024
    Thu, Mar 28
    Virtual Book Club: March 2024
    Mar 28, 2024, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
    Virtual Book Club: March 2024
    Mar 28, 2024, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM EDT
    Virtual Book Club: March 2024
    Join us as we read "The Cross and the Lynching Tree" by Rev. Dr. James H. Cone!
  • Virtual Book Club: January 2024
    Virtual Book Club: January 2024
    Thu, Jan 25
    Virtual Book Club: January 2024
    Jan 25, 2024, 7:00 PM EST – Jan 26, 2024, 8:00 PM EST
    Virtual Book Club: January 2024
    Jan 25, 2024, 7:00 PM EST – Jan 26, 2024, 8:00 PM EST
    Virtual Book Club: January 2024
    Join us for a discussion of the book "Against the Death Penalty" by retired Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer!
  • Virtual Book Club: November 2023
    Virtual Book Club: November 2023
    Thu, Nov 16
    Zoom
    Nov 16, 2023, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
    Zoom
    Nov 16, 2023, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
    Zoom
    Join us as we discuss "The Little Book of Restorative Justice" by Howard Zehr!
  • Virtual Book Club: October 2023
    Virtual Book Club: October 2023
    Thu, Oct 26
    Zoom
    Oct 26, 2023, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
    Zoom
    Oct 26, 2023, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
    Zoom
    Join us as we read "Dead Man Walking" by Sr. Helen Prejean. We will actually be hosting Sr. Helen on our virtual platform, so you don't want to miss this opportunity!
  • Palmetto Journey of Hope: Peace UCC Congregation
    Palmetto Journey of Hope: Peace UCC Congregation
    Sun, Oct 22
    OLLI @ Clemson
    Oct 22, 2023, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
    OLLI @ Clemson, 100 Thomas Green Blvd, Clemson, SC 29631, USA
    Oct 22, 2023, 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM
    OLLI @ Clemson, 100 Thomas Green Blvd, Clemson, SC 29631, USA
    Join us in hearing the stories of the people most impacted by the death penalty. This event features Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr. (a victim family member).
  • Palmetto Journey of Hope: Silver Hill Memorial UMC
    Palmetto Journey of Hope: Silver Hill Memorial UMC
    Sun, Oct 22
    Silver Hill Memorial UMC
    Oct 22, 2023, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
    Silver Hill Memorial UMC, 778 John B White Sr Blvd, Spartanburg, SC 29306, USA
    Oct 22, 2023, 10:00 AM – 11:00 AM
    Silver Hill Memorial UMC, 778 John B White Sr Blvd, Spartanburg, SC 29306, USA
    Join us in hearing the stories of the people most impacted by the death penalty. This event features Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr. (a victim family member).
  • Palmetto Journey of Hope: Greenville
    Palmetto Journey of Hope: Greenville
    Sat, Oct 21
    Greenville
    Oct 21, 2023, 11:00 AM – Oct 22, 2023, 12:30 PM
    Greenville, 9 Beth Dr, Greenville, SC 29609, USA
    Oct 21, 2023, 11:00 AM – Oct 22, 2023, 12:30 PM
    Greenville, 9 Beth Dr, Greenville, SC 29609, USA
    Join us in watching the short film "83 Days" with a panel discussion afterwards by Raymond Patterson (a death row survivor) and Hillary Taylor (Executive Director of SCADP).
  • Palmetto Journey of Hope: Grand Strand
    Palmetto Journey of Hope: Grand Strand
    Wed, Oct 18
    Location is TBD
    Oct 18, 2023, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
    Location is TBD
    Oct 18, 2023, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
    Location is TBD
    Join us in hearing the stories of the people most impacted by the death penalty. Tonight's event features Rusty Cain (a death row survivor) and SueZann Bosler (a victim family member).
  • Palmetto Journey of Hope: USC Law School
    Palmetto Journey of Hope: USC Law School
    Mon, Oct 16
    USC Law School (Room 136)
    Oct 16, 2023, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
    USC Law School (Room 136), 1525 Senate Street, Columbia, SC 29201
    Oct 16, 2023, 7:00 PM – 8:00 PM
    USC Law School (Room 136), 1525 Senate Street, Columbia, SC 29201
    Join us in hearing the stories of the people most impacted by the death penalty. Tonight's event features Sherrerd Hartness (a victim family member), Moses Peterson (a death row survivor), and a team member from Justice 360.
  • Palmetto Journey of Hope: Wofford College
    Palmetto Journey of Hope: Wofford College
    Mon, Oct 16
    Wofford College (Room TBA)
    Oct 16, 2023, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
    Wofford College (Room TBA), 429 N. Church Street, Spartanburg, SC 29303
    Oct 16, 2023, 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
    Wofford College (Room TBA), 429 N. Church Street, Spartanburg, SC 29303
    Join us in viewing the documentary "The Worst Crime," followed by a panel discussion featuring Rev. Hillary Taylor (Executive Director of SCADP), Pastor Jimmy MacPhee (a Death Row Survivor) and SueZann Bosler (a Murder Victim Family Member).
  • Palmetto Journey of Hope: Spartanburg, SC
    Palmetto Journey of Hope: Spartanburg, SC
    Sun, Oct 15
    St. James United Methodist Church
    Oct 15, 2023, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
    St. James United Methodist Church, 213 N Lanford Rd, Spartanburg, SC 29301, USA
    Oct 15, 2023, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM
    St. James United Methodist Church, 213 N Lanford Rd, Spartanburg, SC 29301, USA
    Join us in hearing the stories of the people most impacted by the death penalty. Tonight's event features Pastor Jimmy MacPhee (a death row survivor) and SueZann Bosler (a victim family member).
  • Interfaith Press Conference Against the Death Penalty
    Interfaith Press Conference Against the Death Penalty
    Tue, Oct 10
    SC Statehouse (Front Steps/North Side)
    Oct 10, 2023, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
    SC Statehouse (Front Steps/North Side), 1100 Gervais St, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
    Oct 10, 2023, 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM
    SC Statehouse (Front Steps/North Side), 1100 Gervais St, Columbia, SC 29208, USA
    Join religious and spiritual leaders from across South Carolina in opposition to the death penalty.
Virtual Book Club Feat. Rev. Sharon Risher
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Virtual Book Club Feat. Rev. Sharon Risher

Rev. Sharon Washington Risher was born in Charleston, South where she attended the public schools and graduated from Charles A. Brown High School and graduated from Johnson C. Smith University, in Charlotte, North Carolina. Sharon heard the call to ministry in 2002 while attending St. Paul Presbyterian Church and left North Carolina to attend Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary, Austin, Texas in the spring 2003. Sharon graduated from of Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary in Austin, TX, in 2007. She became a Staff Chaplain, Trauma Specialist, with Parkland Hospital of Dallas, TX, On June 17th, 2015, a horrific tragedy happened; Sharon learned her dear mother, Mrs. Ethel Lee Lance, was killed in Charleston, SC, at the Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church, along with 8 other people, which also included two cousins and a childhood friend. Since that time, Sharon has been very outspoken about the nation’s gun laws and is one of the spokespersons for the grassroots advocacy group Everytown Survivor Network and Moms Demand Gun Sense In America. Sharon is also a leading spokesperson calling for an end to the federal death penalty with DeathPenaltyAction.org, even in the case of the white supremacist terrorist who killed her aunt, cousins, friend and five others. That killer is now on the federal death row at Terre Haute. Sharon supports the Federal Death Penalty Prohibition Act of 2021. She has appeared on CNN , Good morning America, Roland Martin's News One, CBS and other national news outlet. Sharon had been interviewed and by Time Magazine, Marie-Claire , Essence, Texas Monthly magazine, written articles for a number of print media, such as Vogue and VOX. She has appeared on radio shows, such as, Guardian- BBC radio, PBS, NPR among others. She also has visited the White House and has witnessed President Barack Obama sign executive orders that pertained to new gun laws. Find out more about her at https://www.sharonrisherspeaks.com.
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