The Ebenezer Baptist church in Atlanta has witnessed tides of history ebb and flow during its 134 years. Martin Luther King Jr, the civil rights leader, often preached here. Now its pastor, Raphael Warnock, has added a new chapter by becoming the first African American senator from Georgia.
The storied church was firmly closed as votes were tallied on Tuesday night and its doors were plastered with coronavirus warnings, but there was a palpable surge outside as expectation turned to elation.
“We know that Georgia is in the midst of a great change,” said Cheryl Johnson, a voting engagement activist and community historian. “We believe that we can lead the country forward as we have always led the country in many different ways. We have a history of great leadership. We have always been change makers.”
Johnson, 54, has heard the deep-voiced Warnock preach at the church.
“He can break it down intellectually but when it comes to talking about the issues that impact our community – social justice issues, homelessness, healthcare issues, police reform – he comes in the tradition of the Baptist church, which is passionate, engaged. He challenges people to think, who are you and, if you say that you are this, what does that mean?” she said.
Opposite the church a sign announces the Martin Luther King Jr National Historical Park. Beside it is King’s tomb, surrounded by a reflection pool near an eternal flame. In contrast to the unfolding drama in election offices across the state, the memorial was silent and still on Tuesday night.
Warnock’s staff were watching the count anxiously at a campaign office and bar behind the church, which is in the former district of Congressman John Lewis, another civil rights hero who died last summer. Ifeanyichukwu “Chuke” Williams, 24, co-owner of a nearby clothing store and recording studio, said: “There is definitely a connection there: it’s in the ether. In a way Warnock is taking up the mantle, taking up the reins, trying to be the change.”
Jalen Smith, 26, a chef at a home for the elderly, added: “I didn’t vote but I’m familiar with the people and probably would have voted for Warnock. It’s good to see more Black politicians getting in and making a difference. He’s done a lot for the Black community and shown that he actually cares about people.”
Warnock, 51, defeated Republican incumbent Kelly Loeffler, an ardent Trump supporter who boasted she was more conservative than Attila the Hun. In a speech to his supporters on Wednesday, Warnock paid tribute to his 82-year-old mother, Verlene Warnock, who as a young woman spent summers on a south Georgia farm picking cotton and tobacco.
Georgia, where about a third of the population is Black, voted Democratic at November’s presidential election for the first time since 1992 and is on the verge of delivering the Democrats control of the Senate. It has seen years of voter registration efforts, including to engage liberals from other states who moved to Atlanta for work.
It is a state, and a region, in cultural, demographic and political transition. Georgia was a linchpin of the Confederacy during the civil war and bears the scars of slavery, segregation and hundreds of lynchings. But it was also the birthplace of King and a key theatre of the civil rights struggle.
It is now home to a booming TV and film industry dubbed the “Hollywood of the South”. Once famous for local author Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind, the superhero movie Black Panther, which proved a huge hit with African American cinemagoers, is now a more fitting symbol.
After voting on a sunny but crisp Tuesday, Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff, who worked as an intern for Lewis, stood under a tree outside a community centre and told reporters: “I’m a John Lewis Democrat, I’m a civil rights Democrat and that’s the kind of Democrat that’s running in the south right now.
“Think about how far we’ve come in the American south that the Democratic standard bearers in these races are the young Jewish son of an immigrant and a Black pastor who holds Dr King’s pulpit at Ebenezer Baptist church. That is the new south.”
Source: US Politics - theguardian.com
