On January 15, 1926, a child was born to a teenage blind mother. The child would grow up to be a civil rights activist and politician, Hosea Williams. William’s mom would die after giving birth, and the daughter and Hosea moved to their grandparents’ farm. Williams was 14 when he fled from his farm to become friends with a white girl. Williams had a few jobs up until WWII. He served in an all-black unit, was badly wounded, and received a Purple Heart.
At 23 years old, Williams received his high school diploma and enrolled at Morris Brown College to earn a bachelor’s of Chemistry. Williams was a research chemist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture in the 50s. Williams was born in 1952 and joined the NAACP’s Savannah chapter. Williams became vice president of the NAACP, which was W.W. Law’s first civil rights organization. Williams also assisted in the integration and construction of the South’s first passenger railroad. Williams campaigned to register voters for the South in the summer 1961. In 1963, Williams was a leader in the Chatham County Crusades. He was held for just over 2 months. This was the longest jail term of any civil rights leader. After the riots which followed Williams’ arrest, two stores were burnt down. Mills B. Jane Jr. formed a committee with prominent whites to secure Williams’ release and help desegregate the area.
Williams also joined the SLCL at Martian Luther King Jr’s request in 1963. Williams was among the leaders of the march, which was known as Bloody Sunday because it featured police brutality. The current president made it mandatory that the vote be passed after he saw it broadcast on TV. Williams maintained his close friendship to MLK through this, and was even there when MLK was assassinated at Memphis. After Lowery believed that Williams was not focusing on his position as national executivedirector, he removed him from office in 1979. During Williams’ time with the SLCL, he created the Hosea Feed the Hungry & Homeless Program. This program lasted for over three decades. The organization is now run by his daughter.
Williams was elected as the state senator in 1974. He remained there until 1985. Williams lost the U.S. senate race, but was elected in the same year to Atlanta City Council. He served 5 years. His wife was elected the first African American woman in state-wide office. Williams rose to national prominence when he marched in white counties to confront the Ku Klux Klan. His march was organized to honor King and was held on MLK’s day. They were confronted 400-500 Klan members. This was, unsurprisingly, the largest state-wide protest. The Klan received a list with demands from them when they finally reached it. This included fair wages and a biracial jury. Williams later filed an action against the Klan. He awarded the marchers $950,000. In 1987, that was equivalent to about 2,000,000 dollars.
Williams, who had been fighting cancer for 3 years, died on November 17, 2000. Many mourners marched past Williams’ body in his signature denim overalls, red shirt and red sneakers. In honor of him, the State Capital has a portrait taken by his wife. Williams was an important part of the civil-rights movement because he stood against the society’s expectations and saw how American-Americans were treated in America. He wouldn’t be as beaten as King, but it would propel him into politics. The actions he took to advocate for it would make him equal in power to Reverend Martian Luther King Jr. or Rosa Parks.
Hosea Williams is a man I want to collage with. He earned a master’s in psychology at a time when he was marginalized for his skin color, and was treated unfairly as if he wouldn’t make it. Hosea is someone you can look up at and feel that he was a great man. His accomplishments will be remembered for a long time. Everyone wants to leave a lasting impression on the world. I believe that Hosea Williams was able to achieve this feat and inspire others.
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