Reverend Graylan Scott Hagler

Yesterday, the world lost an icon of civil rights with the death of Reverend Jesse Jackson. It is a bit cliché and was said a lot yesterday, but Jackson was a bridge from the civil rights era to the present. Or, as someone else wrote, he linked Martin Luther King Jr. to Barack Obama. But another civil rights champion passed away yesterday as well. Reverend Graylan Scott Hagler was mostly unknown on the national scene and not nearly as well known in Washington, D.C. as he should have been, but he was a fierce advocate for social justice. I am going to skip my normal rant about cult leader, convicted felon, and failed President Donald Trump and his administration and spend some time reflecting on Reverend Hagler.

For those not familiar with Reverend Hagler, he was a leader of Plymouth Congregational United Church of Christ (UCC) in Washington, D.C. for more than 30 years. He passed away yesterday after a struggle with cancer. At the time of his death, Hagler was Pastor Emeritus of the church. Reverend Jamall Calloway, who followed Hagler as senior minister, said that "This world will never know the true depth of our loss. He was utterly amazing. Now the days ahead will forever be filled with unimaginable grief and mourning."

It is fitting that the final tweet on Hagler's X account, dated February 6, 2026, reads, "We Continue to Resist Until Justice is Won!" The tweet links to a newsletter written by Hagler titled "Resisting the Fascist, Greedy, & Lawlessness Agenda of Make America Great (White) Again!" The newsletter begins, "I have been dealing with an ongoing illness and therefore not out there like I would like." For Hagler, that must have been the worst part of being sick. He was a man who not only wanted to be leading resistance to injustice, he simply had to. It was part and parcel of his being. It is not an exaggeration to say that it would be hard to find a civil rights protest in Washington in which Hagler was not involved. His latest newsletter demonstrates the breadth of his interests. Hagler wrote about political disruptions of church services such as that with which Don Lemon and others have been charged, the resistance to Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis, anti-Palestinian actions by Israelis in the West Bank, Trump's plans for Gaza, and the situation in Haiti. There were also several items related to local Washington, D.C. issues. Hagler was concerned about injustice wherever it might be.

I first met Reverend Hagler in 2007. Adrian Fenty, who had been the Council Member for Ward 4, the ward in which I live, had just been elected Mayor of Washington, D.C. Therefore, he resigned his council seat, and a special election was being held to choose a successor. Something like 20 candidates joined the race. Hagler was one of those who threw his hat in the ring. I quickly realized that it was impossible to find an accessible source of information about the large field of candidates and decided to establish a website on which to publish information about those running. To gather information, I began attending candidate forums and other campaign events throughout the ward. I almost immediately noticed a very large man with a booming voice who could deliver an extremely inspiring stemwinder. That was my introduction to Reverend Graylan Scott Hagler.

In a field of above-average orators, Hagler stood out. Physically, with his tall stature and gray beard, he couldn't be missed. When he started speaking, he was impossible to ignore. As I wrote articles for the website, the one consistency seemed to be that the candidates didn't like what I wrote about them. Each one had their own way of making this point. For instance, Muriel Bowser, who would eventually win the race and later become D.C.'s mayor, confronted me at a public event and started yelling that what I had written wasn't true. Hagler, on the other hand, sought me out and explained that he didn't think that I understood what his campaign was about and, therefore, I should spend more time with him. As a result of his entreaty, I did start spending more time with him, and I became a great admirer of his.

Very early in the campaign, it became clear that Bowser's election was essentially a foregone conclusion. She benefited from Fenty's organization, and the other candidates would split whatever opposition vote there was. I don't think Hagler ever had any illusions that he would win, but I believe that he wanted to use the campaign events as opportunities to spread his message that there were people in Ward 4, indeed throughout D.C., that were being left behind and that they shouldn't be forgotten.

On the evening of the election, I attended Hagler's campaign party at a local restaurant. I wanted to interview him for an article I was writing for the website, so we stepped away from the crowd. He answered all my questions and then expressed frustration with a story that had appeared in a mainstream publication, probably the Washington Post, but I don't remember at this point. Hagler was upset that his position on an issue had been misrepresented. He described all the times he had spoken about the issue and asked, “Was I unclear about what I said?" Hagler's speaking style was to say things loudly, clearly, and dramatically. I don't think it would be possible to misunderstand him. My reply was, "In my experience, subtly is not your strength." He almost doubled over in laughter, then repeatedly expressed surprise that I didn't think he was subtle. You could attribute a lot of characteristics to Reverend Hagler, but subtly simply wasn't one of them.

Hagler was an activist in the purest sense of the word. He believed that if people could be motivated to demand change, change would occur. I think that he saw his talent for speaking as a gift that he had been given in order to inspire others to action. But Hagler did not simply wind people up and send them on their way. To the contrary, he would be in the front leading. In the years since the special election, I routinely encountered Reverend Hagler at protests or demonstrations around town. He was simply tireless in his mission to combat injustice.

As an obituary in the Washington Informer says:

Known for his bold preaching and uncompromising stance on justice, Hagler often challenged systems of inequality through both ministry and movement-building. He was a visible presence in demonstrations and interfaith coalitions addressing poverty, housing inequity, racial justice, and peace advocacy. He served as co-chair of the D.C. Poor People’s Campaign and worked with national and international partners on human rights and anti-war efforts.

The obituary quotes the current Ward 4 Councilmember Janese Lewis George as saying that Hagler was "unafraid and unapologetic to fight for those who don’t have the voices to fight for themselves." Reverend Hagler will be greatly missed, and demonstrations in Washington will not be the same without him.