State of Georgia’s 37th Annual Celebration of Service
January 14, 2021 • 1:30 PM Georgia State Capitol • Ceremonial North Wing
Program WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS Ms. Deirdre Haywood-Rouse Mr. Demarius Brinkley PRESENTATION OF COLORS Georgia State Patrol Honor Guard PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Trooper Mar’kevious Thomas UNITED STATES NATIONAL ANTHEM Ms. Kelly Goodson INDIAN NATIONAL ANTHEM Ms. Jyothsna K. Nanu INVOCATION Reverend Abraham Mosley Chair, Stone Mountain Memorial Association GOVERNOR’S PRESENTATION Honorable Brian Kemp 83rd Governor of State of Georgia KING CENTER PRESENTATION The King Family REMARKS FROM THE SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE Honorable David Ralston Georgia House of Representatives MUSICAL SELECTION The Atlanta Young Adult Youth Chorus 2021 IN MEMORIAM Dr. Thomas Smith
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SERVICE RECOGNITION AND AWARD CEREMONY Ms. Barbara Harrison Mr. Toney Collins
* RITA JACKSON SAMUELS FOUNDERS AWARD * Ms. Nancy Flake Johnson
* REV. JOSEPH E. LOWERY CIVIL RIGHTS AWARD * Bishop Woodie White
* JOHN ROBERT LEWIS LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD * Dr. Bernard Lafayette
INDIAN AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL CHAMBER OF COMMERCE Mr. KV Kumar Executive Chairman and CEO KEYNOTE ADDRESS Dr. Swati Vijay Kulkarni Consul General for India in Atlanta GEORGIA LEGISLATIVE BLACK CAUCUS State Senator Tonya Anderson MUSICAL SELECTION Ms. Kelly Goodson PARTING COMMENTS State Senator Emanuel Jones BENEDICTION Rev. Abraham Mosley Chair, Stone Mountain Memorial Association
Please adhere to COVID-19 protocols. Social distancing is encouraged, and complimentary masks are available for all guests. Page 2
Dr. Swati Vijay Kulkarni Keynote Speaker & Ambassador Andrew J. Young Humanitarian Award Recipient The Andrew J. Young Humanitarian Award, named in honor of former Atlanta Mayor, Congressman and Ambassador to the United Nations, is giving annually to a remarkable individual or organization in recognition of their pursuit of universal human rights and social justice.
Dr. Swati Vijay Kulkarni
is a career diplomat who holds M.B.B.S. (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) degree from the prestigious Government Medical College, Nagpur in India. She joined the Indian Foreign Service in 1995. Prior to her appointment as Consul General, Consulate General of India, Atlanta, she served as Regional Passport Officer, Mumbai, Maharashtra (2014-2018), Consul General in CGI Cape TownSouth Africa (2012-2014), Deputy Head of Mission in Muscat, Oman (2008-2012). Dr. Kulkarni’s previous overseas assignments were First Secretary in High Commission of India, London (2005-2008), where she successfully worked as a nodal officer for preventing discrimination for Indian Medical Graduates after the implementation of new UK Immigration rules; First Secretary in the High Commission of India, Port Louis, Mauritius (2001-2003); and as a Third Secretary (Language Trainee) in Embassy of India, Spain (1997-1998). At Headquarters, Dr. Kulkarni worked as an Additional Private Secretary to the External Affairs Minister and later deputed as Regional Passport Officer, Pune, Maharashtra (1998-2001) and as Under Secretary looking after Austria, Cyprus, Greece, Slovenia, Switzerland, Liechtenstein & Holy See, Malta, Portugal, Ireland, and Spain (2003-2005). Dr. Kulkarni is married to Mr. Vijay Jayant Kulkarni who is an Ex-Merchant Mariner by profession and has two daughters.
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Nancy Flake Johnson Rita Jackson Samuels Founders Award Recipient The Rita Jackson Samuels Founders Award, named in honor of the trailblazing equal rights advocate and businesswoman, is given annually to an exceptional individual or organization in recognition of their commitment to empowering women in business and in the community.
Nancy Flake Johnson became president and CEO of the Urban League of GreaterAtlanta in 2008. She has served as Vice President of Programs for the Detroit Urban League, led Howard University’s Small Business Development Center, served as a Tax Manager with Coopers & Lybrand and operated an accounting, tax and consulting practice. Nancy is a Howard University and DePaul University graduate and has a passion for empowering people and communities in the areas of economics and social justice. She and her team have gained a reputation for delivering impactful programs that focus on education, economic mobility and development in black communities, developing, delivering and advocating for education and economic impact policy, and public and private sector partnerships. The League focuses on workforce development, entrepreneurship, youth and young adults, housing and wealth building and social and racial justice. In 2020, in commemoration of its 100 year centennial, the League launched as a Financial Empowerment Center (FEC) to close the racial wealth gap. In response to the COVID 19 pandemic, the League expanded to provide emergency financial assistance and rapid re-employment and renamed the center, the Financial Empowerment & Emergency Relief Center (FEERC). The League was awarded over $1 million for rental, mortgage, utility, food and other urgent needs of families and champions social, racial and economic justice. Nancy’s community service includes: Serving on the Board of Fifth Third Bank, WorkSource Atlanta, Truist Community Reinvestment Advisory Council, Former Atlanta Mayor, Keisha Lance Bottoms’ Youth Entrepreneurship Council, Business for America Advisory Council, and the Racial Equity Advisory Council for the National Skills Coalition.
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Bishop Woodie White Rev. Joseph E. Lowery Civil Rights Award Recipient The Reverand Joseph E. Lowery Civil Rights Award, named in honor of the iconic minister and founding member of the SCLC, is given annually to an outstanding individual or organization in recognition of their unwavering advocacy for leadership development in the fight for civil rights.
Bishop Woodie W. White is a Retired Bishop of
The United Methodist Church, having served from 1984-2004. In 1996, he became the President of the Council of Bishops to serve a one-year term. A native of New York City, Woodie White graduated from DeWitt Clinton High School in New York. He also attended Paine College in Augusta, Georgia. While attending Boston University School of Theology (S.T.B.) he served a pastorate in Worchester, Massachusetts. He then became a probationary member of the Detroit Annual Conference and was appointed as Associate Pastor and later, pastor, at East Grand Boulevard Methodist Church in Detroit. Subsequently, he began two years as Urban Missioner for the conference’s work in Metropolitan Detroit. With the establishment of a General Commission on Religion and Race by The United Methodist Church in 1968, Woodie W. White became its first General Secretary, serving in that capacity until 1984 when the North Central Jurisdictional Conference elected him to the episcopacy and he was assigned to the Illinois Area (1984-1992). Bishop White was assigned to the Indiana Area in 1992, and he retired there in 2004. He is now serving as Bishop-in-Residence at Candler School of Theology, Emory University. Bishop White holds honorary doctoral degrees from Adrian College, Rust College, McKendree College, Illinois Wesleyan University, McMurry College and Evansville University. He was on a four-person task force to examine racism and race relations in Australia and New Zealand for the Committee to Combat Racism of the World Council of Churches. He participated in preaching missions in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil. He has written extensively for denominational and ecumenical periodicals and is coauthor of Racial Transition in the Church, Confessions of a Prairie Pilgrim, and Conversations of the Heart. Woodie and Jennie May “Kim” Tolson While have four daughters: Kimberly Yvette, Hope Angela, Valerie Elizabeth, Sharon Denise; one son, Bryan Michael, and two grandchildren. Page 5
Dr. Bernard Lafayette John Robert Lewis Lifetime Achievement Award The John Robert Lewis Lifetime Achievement Award, named in honor of the civil rights leader and 17-term Congressman from Georgia, is given annually to a extraordinary public servant in recognition of their career-long commitment to support equality and education for all.
Bernard Lafayette, Jr. has been a Civil Rights
Movment activist, minister, educator, lecturer, and is an authority on the strategy of nonviolent social change. He co-founded the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in 1960, a leader of the Nashville Movement, on the Freedom Rides, 1961, and the 1965 Selma Movement. He directed the Alabama Voter Registration Project in 1962, and was appointed National Program Administrator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and National Coordinator of the 1968 Poor Peoples’ Campaign by Martin Luther King, Jr. An ordained minister, Dr. Lafayette earned a B.A. from American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee, and his Ed.M., C.A.S. and Ed.D from Harvard University. Dr. Lafayette is a former President of the American Baptist College of ABT Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee; Scholar-in-Residence at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change in Atlanta, Georgia appointed by Mrs. Coretta Scott King. He is the founder and National President of God-Parents Club, Inc., a member of Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc., and a founder of the Association for Kingian Nonviolence Education and Training Works. Dr. Lafayette presently is a Breeden Eminent Visiting Professor, Auburn University, Auburn, AL; formerly a Distinguished Scholar in Residence and Director of the Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies at the University of Rhode Island. He is the chairperson for the Global Nonviolence Conference Series Executive Planning Board. Currently, Dr. Lafayette is a Distinguished Visiting Scholar at the University Of Rhode Island Center for Nonviolence and Peace Studies, and a Distinguished Senior Scholar-in-Residence, Emeritus, at Emory University. A native of Tampa, Florida, Dr. Lafayette is married to the former Kate Bulls of Tuskegee, Alabama, and has two sons, James and Bernard Lafayette, III. Page 6
With Gratitude Governor Brian Kemp and First Lady Marty Kemp Speaker of the House David Ralston Reverend Abraham Mosley Georgia Legislative Black Caucus The King Center Georgia State Patrol Georgia Building Authority Consul General for India in Atlanta Indian American International Chamber of Commerce World Peace Center Martin Luther King Jr. High School
A Committment Everlasting Thank you to the King Family for their continued support and partnership in the State of Georgia’s Annual Celebration of Service Event. This Council and this community would not be where it is today without their tireless efforts to protect and advance the work of the King Center and Dr. King’s Legacy.
About Us Georgia’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Advisory Council is a 501(c)(3) organization created to promote the life, legacy and teachings of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The Council was created in law under then-Governor Nathan Deal. The primary responsibilities of the Council are to promote racial harmony and understanding across the State of Georgia through education and public events. The Council is able to further their efforts through the volunteerism of its members and by the generous contributions of individuals and corporations. Martin Luther King, Jr. Advisory Council Members Sen. Emanuel Jones, Christine Miller-Betts, Demarius Brinkley, Toney Collins, Barbara Harrison, Rusty Haygood, Deirdre Haywood-Rouse, and Dr. Thomas Smith.
Founder and Member Emeritus - Rita Jackson Samuels (In Memoriam)