ATLANTA – State Representative Al Williams (D-Midway) was recently named the Legislator of the Year by the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus (GLBC) at the GLBC’s annual Heritage Dinner on Thursday, Feb. 22, 2018.
“I am honored to be presented this award by my colleagues in the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, the nation’s largest state legislative black caucus,” said Rep. Williams. “I’m sincerely thankful for and humbled by this prestigious recognition, and I look forward to continuing my public service to the great state of Georgia.”
Rep. Williams was recently appointed to the Special Committee on Base Realignment and to the State Pipeline Commission, making him the only democratic to be appointed. He also serves as chairman of the State House Democratic Caucus Policy Committee, and he is the past chairman of GLBC. Rep. Williams has served as a delegate at six Democratic National Conventions (DNC), and he served on the Rules Committee during the 2016 DNC in Philadelphia. His memberships include: NAACP life member, the Liberty County Democratic Committee, the Liberty County Chamber of Commerce, the National Association of State Legislators, the National Black Caucus of State Legislators, the Georgia Association of Black Elected Official, and the Georgia Legislation Black Caucus. He is also the vice chairman of the Liberty County Development Authority and the Liberty County Airport and Tourism Authority.
Rep. Williams’ civic and political involvement began in 1960 at the age of 13 when he served as a door knocker for President John F. Kennedy and received his first National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) membership card. In 1963, Rep. Williams marched at the first March on Washington, and he also marched in 1965 from Selma, Alabama, to Montgomery, Alabama. He was jailed 17 times during the civil rights movement.
Rep. Williams was the first Youth Council president of NAACP’s Liberty County branch, and he later served as the vice president of the Georgia’s NAACP Youth Council. He was also the first African-American national committeeman for the Young Democrats of Georgia and the first African-American from Liberty County to be elected to the Georgia House of Representatives since Reconstruction.
Rep. Williams is a Vietnam War veteran, and he has received many local, state and national awards, including a Trumpet Award, a nationally recognized award, in 2008.
Rep. Williams attended Saint Leo University and John Marshall School of Law, and he was bestowed an honorary Doctorate of Humanities from Trinity Bible College.
Rep. Williams is the chairman deacon at Calvary Missionary Baptist Church in Richmond Hill, Georgia. Rep. Williams and Olivia, his wife of 38 years, have five sons.
Representative Al Williams represents the citizens of District 168, which includes portions of Liberty County. He was elected to the House of Representatives in 2002 and currently serves on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Public Safety and the Economic Development & Tourism, Game, Fish & Parks, Rules and Transportation committees. He is also a member of the Military Affairs working group.
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