Jennifer Pinckney, widow of Rev. Clementa Pinckney who was killed in the Charleston church shooting last year, spoke Tuesday at Duke University.

Rev. Clementa Pinckney was one of nine killed in the shooting during a prayer group meeting in the basement of Mother Emanuel Baptist Church in Charleston on June 17, 2015.

The shooting was committed by Dylann Roof, a 21-year-old white man, who later confessed he committed the massacre in hopes of starting a race war.

Roof’s trial will take place this summer.

“It’s going to be very difficult. It’s going to open up fresh wounds again,” said Pinckney.

Jennifer Pinckney was at the church the night of the shooting but was not in the basement and was left physically unharmed. She said now her biggest priority is to teach her two young daughters not to be afraid.

“I cannot instill in her to be fearful of going places and fearful of other people,” said Pinckney.

Pinckney was joined by Rev, Kylon Middleton and Rev. Chris Vaughn, close family friends who have been supporting Pinckney.

Middleton, who is also a pastor in Charleston, said that the tensions between races that Roof was attempting to exploit don’t really exist.

“Black folks are more peaceful than people give us credit for, especially in the low country area,” said Middleton. “And it created an opportunity for, not only the nation, but all of the city to recognize that the animosity that people continue to think exist between the races is really only something that lives in our minds.”

But Middleton did say that gentrification is changing the racial makeup of cities like Charleston. And when individuals get pushed out, a community can struggle to maintain its identity.

“There is a national dialogue that needs to happen because what’s going on in Charleston, what’s going on in Durham, is going on in Ferguson, is going on in Sanford Florida, is going on all over the country,” said Middleton.

Rev. Clementa Pinckney was serving as a South Carolina State Senator at the time of his death, so his wife along with Middleton and Vaughn have established a foundation in his name to support the causes he cared about during his life.

“We have several of Senator Pinckney’s platform or priorities that we are still uplifting,” said Middleton.

The foundation will focus on public education, healthcare and community outreach in South Carolina, said Pinckney.

“[We are] trying to be some sort of voice for the voiceless,” said Pinckney.

Pinckney said that her Christian faith has remained unchanged throughout the ordeal.

“I still believe that one day I will see Clementa. I know that he is looking down on me and the girls and I know that he is smiling down on us,” said Pinckney.

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