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	Georgia General Assembly

01 LC 19 5048

House Resolution 409
By: Representatives Brooks of the 54^th, Mobley of the 69^th, McClinton of the 68^th, Reed of the 52^nd, McKinney of the 51^st and others

A RESOLUTION

Honoring the Reverend Hosea L. Williams and Mrs. Juanita Williams and directing that a portrait of the two of them be placed in the State Capitol; and for other purposes.

WHEREAS, the Reverend Hosea Williams and Juanita Elizabeth Terry Williams were married for 40 years; and

WHEREAS, theirs was a dynamic union of two people motivated by a genuine love for humanity and a consuming desire to change the world; and

WHEREAS, the Reverend Hosea L. Williams was an activist fueled by compassionate understanding and raw courage whose activism over the course of a career that spanned four decades was always in service to God, his family, his people, the nation, and all of humanity; and

WHEREAS, as a civic leader, entrepreneur, educator, activist, scholar, and writer Mrs. Juanita Williams made many quiet, yet significant and meaningful contributions to the lives of the people of the State of Georgia, especially in her hometown of Atlanta and in Savannah where she lived for several years; and

WHEREAS, during a civic career spanning nearly 30 years, Mrs. Williams was the first black woman to run for public office in Georgia since Reconstruction and the first black woman to run for state-wide office; and

WHEREAS, Reverend Williams served with distinction as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives from 1974 to 1983, representing District 54; and

WHEREAS, Mrs. Williams was elected to serve House District 54 in 1985 and did so honorably for four terms until her retirement; and

WHEREAS, it was in leading the historic march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on "Bloody Sunday" in 1965 that Hosea Williams´ raw courage was most evident, and that pivotal event was instrumental in securing passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act; and

WHEREAS, as chief executive of "Hosea´s Feed the Hungry and Homeless in Metro Atlanta," founded in 1970, Reverend Williams assumed responsibility for feeding thousands of Atlanta´s homeless during the holidays each year; and

WHEREAS, in 1971, as international ambassadors for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Hosea and Juanita Williams completed a Worldwide Brotherhood Tour of 19 countries, including ten African nations, India, Vietnam, and the People´s Republic of China; and

WHEREAS, both Hosea Williams and Juanita Williams served the citizens of the State of Georgia with great effectiveness and unparalleled dedication and it is only fitting and proper that they be duly recognized and honored for decades of service in devotion to timeless principles.

NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF GEORGIA this body honors the Reverend Hosea L. Williams and Mrs. Juanita Williams and directs that a portrait of the two of them be placed in an appropriate location in the State Capitol.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Clerk of the House of Representatives is authorized and directed to transmit an appropriate copy of this resolution to the family of Reverend Hosea Williams and Mrs. Juanita Williams.