June 3, 2025

In 2015, Malcolm Graham in many ways became head of an extended family grieving over the loss of their sister and family member. Cynthia Graham Hurd and eight others were murdered during a Blble Study at Emanuel Church in Charleston, where Malcolm and his siblings grew up. More Bible Study attendees were injured. Many families were forever affected.

Now 10 years after the slaying of nine African Americans for which white racist Dylann Roof was found guilty, Malcolm Graham has written a book narrating parts of the story. His interests are chiefly illuminated by the book’s title: “The Way Forward: Keeping the Faith and Doing the Work Amid Hatred and Violence.”

This morning’s presentation marked Graham’s opening event in a month of engagements to discuss his book, which he says took 18 months to write. Copies may be purchased at Park Road Books, 4139 Park Rd., and online at Amazon or Barnes&Noble. Graham’s book website is here.

Graham expresses no interest in the unrepentant killer who is now in jail, but great interest in the “systems” that helped create someone determined, in Graham’s view, to attack not just nine individuals but an entire race of people.

His advice to listeners shaping discussion sparked by other incidents of racism is to “continue to tell the story,” to be a “convener of truth-telling” that will “respect everyone’s humanity.”

As in the book, Graham Tuesday expressed the hope that his advice to use “creative tension” to challenge racial incidents will reach a national audience. The Forum’s guardrails of the day ruled out exploring how that ambition might shape the current Charlotte City Council member’s political future. Another day, another venue perhaps, but after the meeting audience members were already speculating.