- Georgia’s elected senator, Rev. Raphael Warnock, will be the state’s first black senator.
- Warnock is also a senior pastor of the Atlanta Ebenezer Baptist Church, preaching from a pulpit that was once led by Martin Luther King Jr.
- Insider spoke to Martin Luther King III about Warnock’s historic victory and his connection to the “King tradition” in the church.
- Visit the Business Insider home page for more stories.
The new elected senator, Reverend Raphael Warnock, has already made history.
He will be Georgia’s first black senator. He is part of a newly purple Georgia (a change that is happening thanks in large part to the work of leaders like Stacey Abrams). And, 15 years ago, he was named the youngest senior pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church.
Martin Luther King III – son of Martin Luther King Jr. – has a strong family connection with the Church of Warnock. Martin Luther King Jr. preached there, as did Martin Luther King Senior, grandfather of King III.
In an interview with Insider after Warnock’s historic election, King III highlighted the work Warnock had already been doing at Ebenezer Baptist before making political history.
Warnock was arrested twice in protest against health cuts, once at the Georgia State Capitol and once at the United States Capitol. He also advocated criminal justice reform.
“He was working on a number of issues in the Church as a pastor. Now he is in a position to vote in the United States Senate, to really have a tremendous and phenomenal impact,” said King III. “He had an external impact from an external point of view as a pastor, but now he will be helping to dictate and determine what is politics, which is incredible.”
King III said that “rarely” does a pastor enter the house or senate, and Warnock comes from the “King’s tradition”.
Warnock’s victory is part of a turn of the tide in Georgia – and for the nation
When asked to comment on the matter by Insider, the Warnock campaign highlighted his comments on election night, when Warnock said he was “a son of my late father who was a pastor, a veteran and a small businessman and my mother who, as a teenager growing up in Waycross, Georgia, used to pick someone else’s cotton.
But the other day, because this is America, the 82-year-old hands that used to pick someone else’s cotton went to the polls and chose their youngest son to be a United States senator. “
On January 10, Warnock delivered his first sermon after his historic victory – and the violent uprising on the United States Capitol by a pro-Trump crowd. He had over 20,000 views on Ebenezer Baptist’s website and about 8,800 views on Facebook. He touched on the violence of the siege, in which he said that “the ugly side of our history, our great and great American history” has emerged yet again.
But he also mentioned Georgia’s historicity in electing him and Jon Ossoff, Georgia’s first Jewish senator and the son of an immigrant.
“You should know that this is a glimpse into God’s vision of a more inclusive humanity that embraces all of God’s children,” said Warnock. “I am very grateful to be a part of this.”
Georgia Democratic Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock greet each other on stage during the “Vote GA Blue” show for Georgia Democratic Senate candidates Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff at New Birth Church on December 28, 2020, at New Birth Church in Stonecrest, Georgia.
Griffin / Getty images
Warnock’s and Ossoff’s respective victories meant that Georgia itself made history by turning over the Senate, giving Democrats control of both legislative chambers as Democratic President-elect Joe Biden prepares to take office.
King III said that Georgia is a state in transition, and the immense grassroots effort has created a model for other states.
“My opinion is that this can be duplicated in several cities around the South, certainly in the state of North Carolina,” said King III. “I think it can be duplicated in Mississippi. I think parts of it can be duplicated in Alabama and South Carolina, just to name a few.”
With more people moving into the Atlanta metropolitan area – which King III said was more “progressive” and “open-minded” – he believes Georgia will eventually become a completely blue state. As FiveThirtyEight reported, some Democrats expect Georgia to follow a trajectory similar to that of Virginia, which turned blue in 2008 and has largely voted for Democrats since.
Warnock’s work as a pastor and the story he will take with him to the Senate can also help to continue Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy
“I think some would say it is an extension of what my father – I won’t say he would have done – but maybe I would like to see it,” said King III.