Remembering Lynn Council + Pilgrimage to Alabama Dec. 4-5, 2026

Last month, our meeting was particularly heavy. We spent much of our time talking about the young black man who died in Raleigh the week before.

On Saturday, August 15, 2026, police found a young black man hanging from a tree in downtown Raleigh. I hadn’t kept up with the news that week and listened to the dueling narratives about this man’s death:

One–he had been lynched and police were in on it. People stood by and did nothing. Nearby restaurant employees were complicit. 

Two–this young man took his own life. 

We shared what we knew about the investigation and the Raleigh Police Department’s statements. We leaned on one of our members, really, spiritual leader, to tell us what she knew about suicide in the black community. I was sorry I asked. Our friend looked tired. She’d fielded these questions all week and now had to hear them from us. With patience but not without frustration, she shared–

We need to normalize talking about mental health. In some circles, it’s more acceptable to say someone died of an overdose than to say they took their own life. There is so much shame and blame around suicide. Everyone needs therapy. 

We need to learn not to make ignorant (!) statements about what black people do or do not do. (see: “Black people do not commit suicide.”)

We need to go through the process and give our black leadership at the Raleigh PD space. 

And above all, our youngest leader reminded us, we need to center this victim and his family and avoid further hurting them with false stories. 

Another coalition member pointed out we need to acknowledge that the image of a black person hanging from a tree brings up a visceral response, feelings of rage and terror you can feel in your body. 

It was a heavy conversation. We had more to cover. I wanted to hear about Lynn Council. 

On the same day this young man died, Mr. Lynn Council was laid to rest in Apex. 

Our coalition cofounder Matt spoke at the service, and I wanted to hear about it and how we came to know Mr. Council. 

Lynn Council was 93 years old when he passed, but only 19 when he survived an attempted lynching by police.

In 1952, Mr. Council and his friends were accused of a crime they did not commit. The Apex police chief arrested Mr. Council, beat him, drove him to the Wake County sheriff’s office, and with deputies, drove him out to an oak tree and hung him. When Mr. Council refused to confess to a crime he did not commit, police officers let him go. 

In 2017, Matt began collaborating with his high school students, other educators, and Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative (EJI) to research the only documented lynching in Wake County. 

Local news outlets covered the students’ research into George Taylor, who was lynched on November 5, 1918. A close friend of the family shared this work with Mr. Council, and in 2019, he came forward to share his story. 

That is how we know Lynn Council’s story. That is how George Taylor’s descendants know about their ancestor – students researching to find and tell the truth. 

We ended our meeting listening to George Taylor’s great granddaughter, our north star, hold space for Mr. Council’s family and share her vision for supporting families whose histories are connected by racial terror in Wake County. 

This coalition humbles me. Their courage, honesty, and love give me hope. Seeing their faces makes me smile. They teach me that George Taylor, Lynn Council, and this young man in Raleigh are more than the way they died or almost died. 

Together, we are taking our annual pilgrimage to EJI on December 4th and 5th. I want to personally invite you to join us. All are welcome. 

- Susan Sanford, co-chair, Wake County Community Remembrance Coalition (WCCRC)

To sign up, contact Shannon Hardy at: srhardy70@gmail.com

To see the itinerary, click here.

A block of rooms is reserved at The Elevation Hotel through Nov. 4.