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iving the legacy her grandfather started, this is Porsha Stewart. A thirty something year old diva paving her own way in history, the footprints left by her courageous grandfather Hosea Williams continue to be her inspiration.
The legend and life of Hosea Williams almost needs no introduction. Civil Rights Leader, philanthropist, politician and ordained minister, Hosea Williams fought against racial discrimination for nearly fifty years and was known as one of Martin Luther King Jr.’s most trusted lieutenants in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. After his work with Dr. King, this World War II veteran became a member of the NAACP and was a State of Georgia representative from 1974-1984. Among his best known civic works, Hosea Williams led marches with up to 20,000 people to protest racism in segregated Forsyth County, Georgia. Hosea Williams earned a Bachelor Degree in Chemistry under the GI Bill and became a Research Chemist with the US Department of Agriculture, one of the first Blacks hired in this capacity. He was awarded Honorary Doctor of Laws and Distinguished Alumni Award by Morris Brown College. Williams founded Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless, a nonprofit foundation widely known in Atlanta for providing hot meals, haircuts, clothing, and many other services for the needy on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Martin Luther King, Jr. Day and Easter Sunday each year. Porsha is an avid participant in this organization’s growth and development, actively working with Williams’ daughter, Elizabeth Omilami, who serves as head of the foundation. continued on pg. 32
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WINTER 2013 | UrbanLuxMagazine.com