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Charlotte NC

Adams Video on the Fifth Anniversary of the Charleston Shooting

June 17, 2020

Video highlights the Charleston Nine, Cynthia Graham Hurd

CHARLOTTE - Congresswoman Alma Adams (NC-12) introduced a video commemorating the fifth anniversary of the Charleston shooting and celebrating the lives of the Charleston Nine this morning.

The video premiered on Facebook at 8:30 AM.

A copy of the video is available here. The video was originally requested by the Cynthia Graham Hurd Foundation.

"Today is the fifth anniversary of the tragic shooting in Charleston. This year, I shared my thoughts with the family of one of the Charleston Nine, Cynthia Hurd Graham," said Adams.

"Cynthia was an educator, a librarian, and a pillar of her family, her faith community at Mother Emmanuel, and the Charleston community as a whole. I was honored that her brother, Malcolm, reached out to give me the opportunity to share my testimony and honor the memory of Cynthia and the Charleston Nine."

Video Script:

"Through many dangers, toils and snares

We have already come

T'was Grace that brought us safe thus far

And Grace will lead us home"

I'm Congresswoman Alma Adams, and I'm speaking to you on the fifth anniversary of the tragic shooting at Mother Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Many Holy Books tell us that "Whoever destroys a single life is considered by Scripture to have destroyed the whole world."

Each time we lose someone we lose an entire world; an entire universe of hopes, dreams, and aspirations; we lose a thread that binds together families and communities.

In recent weeks, we have spoken the names of countless victims of injustice to honor their life, to demonstrate that they were a person of value, and to take the awful moment of their violent transition to the next life and make it a catalyst for action.

That is why I will never forget:

Senator and Pastor Clem Pinckney

Pastor Daniel L. Simmons

Pastor Sharonda Coleman-Singleton

Susie Jackson and her grandnephew Tywanza Sanders

Ethel Lee Lance

Depayne Middleton-Doctor

Myra Thompson

Or Cynthia Graham Hurd

Cynthia's loss was the one we felt hardest in Charlotte.

Not only because of her Brother, our Brother, Malcolm Graham

But also because she was an educator, a librarian.

Neil Gaiman once wrote that "Libraries are about Freedom. Freedom to read, freedom of ideas, freedom of communication."

A library is the purest form of educational equality, a place where someone at any level of education can learn and grow.

And to this day it is still heartbreaking that the venom of white supremacy and the fangs of our gun culture stole away from us a guardian of freedom and equality, along with 8 other pillars of faith and justice.

I want you to know that my prayers have been with all of you through the dangers, toils and snares of the past five years.

So too have been my votes and my actions.

One of my proudest moments as a Congresswoman was to be part of the sit-in protesting inaction on gun violence the year after Charleston.

Since then I've voted to close the Charleston loophole and I've called on the Senate to take up the many bills the people's House has passed to reform our violent gun culture.

I'll end with this. Gaiman also said that "Libraries are the thin red line between civilization and barbarism."

At Mother Emanuel's bible study, there were 14 people with Books and one barbarian with a gun. But the people with the books won, and their glory is eternal and will never be undone.

Grace will always lead us home!

That is the power of books, of literacy, of pastors and librarians. Words are more powerful than bullets and an education will always be more powerful than a gun.

That is the power of the Charleston Nine, of Cynthia Graham Hurd, and of all of the people who continue to carry their legacy to this day.

Thank you, and may God bless all of you and your families.

Congresswoman Alma Adams represents North Carolina's 12th Congressional District (Charlotte) and serves as Vice Chair of the House Committee on Agriculture. Additionally, she serves on the House Financial Services Committee and the House Education & Labor Committee, where she serves as Chair of the Workforce Protections Subcommittee.