There have been one hundred African-American
State Representatives and thirty African-American
State
Senators who have served in the Georgia General Assembly
between 1963 and 2005. Their service and commitment
to the principles and ideals of the Civil Rights Movement
have been fully demonstrated in their legislative
activities and community outreach. As a collective,
the high standards they have set, and the quality
of their service has brought about an evolution in
the progress of those they represent. While the struggle
to maintain civil rights continues, the battle to
acquire "economic parity and justice" is
crystallizing so that those who now have rights may
enjoy them in all segments of society. The struggle
for civil rights, defined as equality of opportunity
and equal justice under the law, has been the basis
for a great deal of legislative activity among the
members of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus during
the past 42 years. From the beginning, African-American
legislators have focused on issues which impact the
day-to-day lives of their constituents and that open
doors for increased African-American leadership and
economic opportunities, as well as, the pursuit of
meaningful symbolic issues. The legislator who desegregated
the Georgia General Assembly when he won his state
Senate seat in 1961, Senator Leroy Johnson has long
been regarded as one of Georgia’s most powerful.
Senator Johnson was the first African-American to
be elected to a political office in the southeast
and was the first African-American elected to Georgia’s
Senate since Reconstruction. During his tenure which
lasted until 1974, Senator Johnson revised the literacy
test for voting rights, making voting more accessible
to all
citizens of Georgia. Though he encountered many obstacles
during his tenure in Georgia’s Senate, he won
the respect of his colleagues and the citizens of
Georgia with his extraordinary work ethic and tenacity
during his years of service to our state, to the extent
that in 1969 he became the first African-American
to be named chairman of a standing committee in the
General Assembly. Further denoting his service, a
Senate Resolution
was unanimously passed in 1995 authorizing the permanent
display of his portrait in the halls of the Capitol.
In 1965 Representative Grace Towns Hamilton became
the first African-American female to be elected to
the
Georgia Legislature. Having served 18 years, she sponsored
legislation that effectively increased minority representation
on both the Atlanta City Council and the Fulton County
Commission, ultimately, paving the way for the election
of the first African-American mayor of Atlanta. Representative
Benjamin D. Brown, who served
the Legislature from 1965 to 1977, was the first Chairman
of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus. In 1974,
he sponsored the original legislation creating the
Georgia Residential Finance Authority (GRFA). As the
Caucus
chairman, Representative Benjamin Brown communicated
to the Governor and the General Assembly, the Caucus'
positions relating to aid to families with dependent
children, fair housing policies, state employment
practices, and the creation of a Martin Luther King,
Jr. birthday holiday. In time, Caucus members sponsored
successful legislation addressing each of these issues.
Caucus initiatives often require years of skillful
negotiating before they gather the needed support.
In 1978 Caucus member Representative Julius C. Daughtery
(1965 - 1986), successfully sponsored the original
legislation to establish the Georgia Office of Fair
Employment Practices. The passage of this legislation
resulted in a dramatic increase in the number of African
Americans working for Georgia state government. Later,
Representatives Tyrone Brooks (1981 - present) and
Representative J.E. "Billy" McKinney (1973
- 2002), seeking to strengthen this law, amended the
enabling legislation through the passage of the Georgia
Equal Opportunity Act of 1991, and changed the agency's
name to the Georgia Commission on Equal Opportunity.
Throughout the years, African-American legislators
have consistently supported bills, which have had
significant, positive ramifications for the State
as a whole. In the late 1970s, Representative Douglas
Dean (1974 - 1980 &1996 - present) sponsored an
anti-bid rigging bill. In the early 1980s, Representative
Henrietta Canty (1975 - 1980 & 1991 - 1998) sponsored
successful legislation, which established Georgia's
first fair housing act. Later in 1992 Senator Sanford
Bishop (Representative 1977 - 1990 /Senator 1991 -
1992), who presently serves as Georgia’s District
2 Congressman, sponsored amendments to Georgia's Fair
Housing Act, which brought it into compliance
with Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Acts of
1968.
Representative Calvin Smyre, (1975
- present), sponsored House Bill 303 in 1991 which
increased the amount of money that recipients of unemployment
benefits could earn without reducing their benefit
amount. Representative Smyre in subsequent years be
chairman of the legislatures most powerful committee’s,
the House Rules Committee. Representative Brooks has
often been referred to as "Mr. Civil Rights"
in Georgia Legislature for his extensive labors at
the forefront of many pieces of civil rights oriented
legislation. In
1983, he authored the first Georgia anti Ku Klux legislation
since the 1940s. This legislation created a special
Antiterrorism Task Force within the Georgia Bureau
of Investigation to tract the activities of individuals
and group
who are known to violate the civil rights of others.
In 1988, Representative Brooks was one of lead plaintiffs,
including Senator Diana Harvey Johnson, (Representative1975
-1983/Senator 1983 - 1999) and Representative Robert
"Bob" Holmes (1975 - present), Billy McKinney,
Representative John White (1983 - 1998), Representative
Mary Young Cummings (1983 - 1992) and Representative
LaNett Stanley Turner (1987 - present) who filed suit
under the federal Voting Rights Act against the state
of Georgia in an effort to forces changes that would
result in the appointment of more African American
Superior Court Judges. Representative Brooks introduced
the civil rights legislation with established the
Positive Employment and Community Help Program (PEACH)
to train women receiving public assistance for jobs,
ultimately placing them in the workforce. African-American
legislators have been responsible for measures that
were important because they impacted the economic
condition of so many citizens. Representative Michael
Thurmond (1987 - 1992), who is presently Georgia’s
Labor Commissioner – one of the first African-Americans
to be elected to a statewide non-judicial office –
sponsored a bill, which gives taxpayers earning $
20,000 or less each year a tax credit. The tax credit
affected almost 60 percent of Georgia's population
when it became law in 1991. In more recent years,
Representative William Randall (1975 - 1999), who
presently serves as the elected Chief of Civil &
Magistrate Court of Bibb County, authored legislation,
which provided regulations for interest rates, repossessions
and reinstatements in " Rent -to-Own" and
"Title Pawn" businesses. This legislation
placed controls on runaway interest rates that had
become synonymous with these types of businesses and
offered protection for consumers from harsh repossession
practices.
Representative Grace Davis (1987 - 1996) successfully
sponsored a bill, which resulted in preventing hundreds
of low-income homeowners from losing their homes.
This bill, which received national recognition and
became a model for Congressional legislation, placed
controls on the mortgage refinance practices of many
companies.
In 1993, Senator David Scott (Representative 1974
-1982 /Senator 1982 - 2002), who presently serves
as Georgia’s District 13 Congressman, sponsored
Senate Bill 105, which placed a cap on the interest
that "lenders of second-equity no purchase mortgages"
could charge. Senator Vincent Fort (1995 - present)
and Representative Virgil Fludd (2003 - present) co-managed
the GLBC efforts through successful legislation to
stem the impact of predatory lending primarily among
the Caucuses elderly and lowincome constituents. As
early as 1968, Representative J.D. Grier (1967 - 1968)
introduced one of the first symbolic issues brought
by African
-American legislators. House Resolution 796 commended
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for his accomplishments.
In 1970, Representative Benjamin Brown and Representative
William H. Alexander (1966 - 1975) introduced House
Resolution 542 resolving that the House pause for
a moment and recognize Dr. King's birth in honor of
his accomplishments. The first continuous holiday
for Dr. King's birth was sought in House Resolution
73, sponsored by Representatives Benjamin Brown and
Julian Bond (Representative 1966 - 1973,
Senator 1974 - 1986) in 1073. Between 1973 and 1984,
one or more King Holiday bills were introduced to
every
session of the legislature by and African-American
legislator. Finally in 1984, House Bill 1072, sponsored
by
Representative Douglas Dean and Hosea Williams (1975
-1984), passed both houses of the Assembly and was
signed into law by Governor Joe Frank Harris is 1984.
The former Georgia state flag
was another important symbol given its intent and
history. Over the years, several members of the GLBC,
such as Representative Frank Redding (1983 -1992),
Billy McKinney, Vernon Jones (1993 - 2000), who presently
serves as the elected Chief Executive Officer of DeKalb
County and Senator Nadine Thomas (Representative 1987
- 1992/Senator 1992 - 2004), have sponsored efforts
to redesign the State flag. During the 1995 sessions,
Senator Ralph David Abernathy (Representative 1993
- 1994/Senator 1995 - 1998) sponsored Senate Bill
44 to redesign the flag. In 2001, Representatives
Tyrone Brooks and Calvin Smyre were a part of the
active coalition “Blue Flag” which changed
the state flag design from the Stars and Bars to the
short lived all inclusive blue flag of Governor Roy
Barnes' administration. Senator Donzella James (1995
- 2002) authored a measure to re-name Lakewood Freeway
in honor of the late Senator Arthur Langford, Jr.
(1985 - 1994) who passed during the 1994 Legislative
Session. Economic parity has been the goal of a number
of legislative efforts for more than a decade. During
that time, Representative David Lucas (1975 - present)
sponsored legislation, which provided tax incentives
for majority contractors to subcontract with minority
owned companies. In 1985, then GLBC Chairman, Representative
Sanford Bishop appointed the GLBC Committee on Economic
Development. Senator Charles Walker (Representative
1983 - 1990/Senator 1990 - 2002) authored a bill,
which created the Small Minority Business Development
Corporation (SMBDC) as an alternative financial capital
resource pool for small minority entrepreneurs in
the state. However, the project was never fully implemented.
In 1991 Representative Robert "Bob" Holmes
along with Representative John White, Representative
Billy McKinney, Representative Georganna Sinkfield
(1983 - present) and David Lucas sponsored House Resolution
243 calling for an economic parity study of majority
versus non-majority contract letting among state agencies.
The House Study Committee subsequently reported that
only two percent of the state's contracts were awarded
to minority contractors, while African-Americans represent
nearly 30 percent of Georgia's
population. The study promoted an Executive Order
from Governor Zell Miller-similar to one that had
been issued by his predecessor, former Governor Joe
Frank Harris-which urged state agencies to establish
programs designed to increase minority participation
in the state contracting process. The measure clearly
needed codifying legislation to provide the force
of law. Representative Bob Holmes and Representative
Joe Heckstall (1995 - present) sponsored legislation,
that also provided for further minority owned business
participation in state contracts. In other legislation,
ultimately designed to stimulate small and minority
owned business growth and development, Representatives
George Brown (1983 - 1996) and Representative Bob
Holmes also sponsored legislation which created county
and municipal "enterprise zone" designation
that give tax breaks for business development in the
designated areas. During the 1995 legislative session
the GLBC operated within
the structure of a strategically planned Legislative
Agenda, which included specific guidelines for the
achievement of "Participation and Parity in Economic
Development." Representative Georgia Brown (1983
- 1996) succeeded in his efforts to establish International
Trade and Technology Center at Savannah State University
whose purpose was to encourage international trade
development between African and African-American businesses.
The center was launched with $300,000 in federal funding
obtained through Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, a
former Georgia Sate Representative (1989 - 1992),
plus $200,000 obtained through the efforts of Governor
Miller and key GLBC members of both house and Senate
Appropriations Committees.
Senator Floyd Griffin (1994 -
1998) a great champion of issues in the Senate for
the GLBC presently serves as the elected Mayor of
the city of Milledgeville. Representative Thurbert
Baker (1989 - 1998) who is
presently Georgia’s Attorney General – one
of the first African-Americans to be elected to a
statewide non-judicial office – As Governor Miller’s
Assistant Administrative Floor Leader, lead the effort
to enact the HOPE Scholarship, Georgia’s “Two
Strikes and You’re Out” law and tougher
sentences for drunk drivers. The GLBC's concern for
quality of life issues of health, child safety, family
well- fare and criminal victims are reflected in
part. Senator Nadine Thomas's successful bill, which
required delivering, mothers a hospital stay of at
least 72 hours. Senator Thomas child safety and protection
bill followed the tragic death of Terrell Peterson.
Representative "Able" Mable Thomas (1985
- 1992 & 2003 - present) in 1992 authored House
Bill 1427, the mammography, pap smear and prostrate
examination bill mandating insurance coverage for
these medical procedures. Senator Vincent Fort's hate
crime bill of 2002 added give years to the sentence
of perpetrators whose crimes included hate of a victim
based on race, religion, ethnicity, national origin,
gender, or sexual preferences. Rep. "Able"
Mable Thomas in 1989, passed House Bill229, the Raped
Shield Bill that required rape cases to be on its
merits rather than the victims past sexual history.
Representative Barbara J. Mobley (1993 - 2004) who
now serves as a State Court Judge in DeKalb County,
sponsored a bill in 1996 that ended common law marriages
and required partners to undergo a blood test before
being married. Representative Billy Mitchell, became
the first freshman legislator to become an officer
of the GLBC when he was elected secretary in 2003.
Representative Mitchell also sponsored legislation
that year on behalf of Secretary of State Cathy Cox,
which allowed voters to “Early Vote” at
their local election offices up to a week in advance
of Election Day.
In 2004, the GLBC Historical and Archival project
was initiated. The official comprehensive historical
records of the caucus will be housed with the Secretary
of State Archives in Jonesboro, Georgia. Individual
GLBC Members are invited to catalog and donate their
personal legislative papers to the Auburn Avenue Research
Library on African-American Culture and History. The
current GLBC Chairman is Representative Stan Watson
of Decatur, Georgia. Elected to DeKalb's 91st district
seat in 1997, Representative Watson has worked tirelessly
for his district, and collaboratively with minority
and majority segments of the state. Two major pieces
of legislation that Representative Watson introduced
was HB 1243 and HB 369. HB 1243 was a bill to amend
Article 2 of Chapter 5 of Title 16 of Official Code
of Georgia Annotated, relating to assault and battery,
so as to provide that any person who commits the offense
of simple assault, simple battery, or battery against
a sports official while such sports official is officiating
an amateur contest or while such sports official is
on or exiting the property where he or she will officiate
or has completed officiating an amateur contest shall,
upon conviction thereof, be punished for misdemeanor
of a high and aggravated nature; and for other purposes.
Representative Watson did not stop there he went on
and passed HB 369 relating to procedures regarding
new trials,
so as to provide for extraordinary motions for new
trials based on newly discovered evidence regarding
paternity of a child; to provide requirements for
filing such a motion; to provide that relief or such
motion shall be granted if genetic testing conclusively
shows that the alleged father is not the natural father
of the child and if the alleged father has not adopted
the child and if the child was not conceived by artificial
insemination; For more than a decade, Representative
Watson has effectively challenged Georgia to work
in the spirit of unity and toward the common goal
of a better Georgia for all . With Chairman Watson's
leadership, the GLBC is poised for even greater successes
and achievements in the coming years.
September, 2005 Representative
Billy Mitchell, Historian
