Eric Graham, a graduate of Winston-Salem State University, earned a BA in Mass Communications with a concentration in Radio and Television and a minor in History; with an emphasis in African-American Studies, where he had an opportunity to study under some of the best political minds, scholars and historians at Coltrane Hall, which was the Political Science Department at WSSU.
During his collegiate years and after graduating, Graham has lectured on various topics at NC A&T State University, Bennett College, Salem College, Livingstone College, and the NAACP Youth Conference to name a few.
But, here are a few of his numerous accomplishments: while returning home:
2004 Invited and lectured at Wholistic Wellness and Healing Conference for African-Americans Conventional and Complementary Approaches for Optimum Health at Morehouse College, where they presented their powerful presentation Fast Food Nation: Battle of The Bulge, which took an in-depth look at how fast food diets affect the general health of African-Americans in the United States.
2007 invited to the 37th Annual Black Congressional Caucus Young Leaders Recognition Reception in Washington, DC, where he was recognized as an Emerging Future Leader in Black America
2007 invited to attend the Black Counseling and Psychologist Conference of Howard University due to his literary work dealing with children affected by Hurricane Katrina, Divorce, and War by Dr. Ivory Toldson, now, the Director of Education Innovation & Research at the NAACP..
2007 Invited to attend the 6th Annual Juvenile Justice Institute Conference in Raleigh, NC teaming up with Tony Asion, the director of Public Safety for EL Pueblo in a workshop exploring CULTURAL COMPETENCY TRAINING FOR WORKING with African-American and Latino Families
2008 participated in Capital University in Columbus, Ohio Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Learning, where he presented a lecture entitled: Father To Son: The Power of Myth Within The African-American Community
2010 as a Reporter for The Warsaw-Faison & Wallace Enterprise Newspapers his stories always highlighted the accomplishments and the best of citizens from Magnolia, which appeared in Annie Maude Pickett Smith’s excellent book The History of Magnolia
2011 attended workshop designed to fight Human Trafficking by Pam Strickland, the founder of the Eastern North Carolina Stop Human Trafficking
2012 created a BACK TO SCHOOL WITH THE A NEW ATTITUDE literacy program, with the help of his therapeutic children’s books, which were designed to improve the reading skills and comprehensive reading levels of students as well as teach them about the importance of self-esteem, academic success, bullying, personal hygiene, self-defense, self-control, and personal responsibility in the classroom and at home that was embraced by the Duplin County School System and awarded one of the BEST CHILDREN’S PROGRAMS IN THE STATE
2012 Created an Anti-Gun, Gang, & Drugs Program as well as an Anti-Bully Program with the help of his cartoon character Bobbee Bee “The Hater,” which is a clever acronym for His Anger Teaches Everbody Reality
2012 addressed The Daycare Provider’s Conference hosted by the Duplin County Partnership for Children on the subject of STRESS, WORKER BURNOUT, COMPASSION FATIGUE, and STRESS REDUCTION in a workplace environment or daycare facility with the Smart Start’s Training Specialist Toni Hudson
2013 Participated in the Duplin County Summer Enrichment Program at E.E. Smith Jr. High School
2014 Spear-headed the Duplin County Library Summer Reading Program, with the help of former Librarian Donna Jones
2015 Participated in Magnolia Pride Day capturing the beauty of the people and the moment through the lens of his camera
2016 Volunteer Little League Baseball Coach For The Rose-Hill Park Recreation
2016 Worked with the Magnolia Chief of Police Donald Hall after the tragic shooting death in Cleveland, Ohio, which involved a 12-year-old Tamir Rice, who was playing with a realistic-looking fake handgun in a public recreation area but believed to be a real gun by an officer of the Cleveland Police Department in 2014, to encourage parents of Magnolia not to purchase these realistic toy guns for their children to play with during the summer as well as having all Dollar General Stores nationwide to place them behind the container for purchase.
2017 WON THE DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. “I HAVE A DREAM AWARD for his work within the community
2018 Participated in Auburn University’s Agriculture Department of Agricultural Economics & Rural Sociology Research Study entitled “Right-to-Farm Laws and Rural Sovereignty”, which is conducted by Loka Ashwood, the Assistant Professor of Rural Sociology, who is attempting to understand how right-to-farm laws function in the state of North Carolina. The data collected from this research will be published in a professional journal and/or book and/ or presented at a professional meeting.
2018 Member of Magnolia Town Board Friends of Library Committee, where he traveled to the State Capitol with Public Library Directors to meet with State Representative (both Senators and House of Representatives) to lobby for Libraries
2020 Created an online presence called Magnolia Memories, which highlighted the Elders of the Past to keep their memories alive.
Despite all of this, he states: “His greatest accomplishment was taking care of his grandmother Bertha Graham in her latter years of life.”