Fattal: Do you think the way the Charleston community has been honoring the victims is different from what you’ve seen elsewhere?

Graham: I see it as the community being pulled together by a common cause and a common commitment in the sense that they realized that this could have been them. This could have happened to any one of them sitting in their church in their community.

Fattal: Does your family have close ties to the Mother Emanuel church?

Graham: We grew up in Mother Emanuel as little children. Thinking about what happened, it struck me that where Cynthia was murdered in the basement of the church is where we had our mother’s funeral, because the church was being repaired when my mother died. Mother Emanuel was always home. That's where my heart and where my spiritual beginning was. Mother Emanuel is always there.

Courtesy of Melvin Graham

Fattal: What are you feeling when you look at what's happening right now?

Graham: I’m angry. I’m angry at politicians in that I see this community and other communities around the country that have been affected by gun violence, not on an individual level but in a mass way, with mass shootings particularly. You would think this would be the time. Each time something happens you think, this is the time we’re going to get some action, some movement, some unity in Washington to do something. Or even in our state legislatures. And each time they have let me down, they have failed me. They’ve shown me—and this is just my opinion—that they simply do not care. They have placed guns over life itself.

Fattal: Do you have any hope, looking at today’s activists?

Graham: I have hope, because these young people said something very important—“We are the next generation of voters, and we will vote you out.” That gives me the hope. We have to vote out the politicians who have decided that Washington is the place they want to die. Their staying in Washington, in their positions, is more important than the people they’re supposed to represent.

This generation sees things a little bit differently. The communities around the country are saying, enough is enough. A lot of people are seeing that this can happen to them at any time, at any minute, and we have to do something, because it’s coming at such a rapid pace.

Fattal: Have you been involved in activism yourself?

Graham: In the beginning, I spoke to state representatives. I’ve been to Washington to try to talk to some representatives, particularly from my state. I hear, “You’re in our thoughts and prayers. We’re sorry this happened to your family.” But when it comes time to taking a vote to actually do something about it, it’s not there. I’ve had politicians say, “I’ve introduced legislation” on this matter or that matter. But the things they introduced either have no chance of passing or it's just a minuscule step in the right direction—a small step just to say they did something.