Bottoms Thanks Ebenezer Congregation After Historic Georgia Win
Keisha Lance Bottoms addressed worshippers at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church on November 8, following her election as Georgia’s next governor. She thanked the congregation for its support and spoke about how her faith helped guide her campaign, which began nearly a year and a half earlier. The church’s senior minister, Sen. Raphael Warnock, invited her to address the congregation.
Bottoms also recalled visiting a cemetery in Crawfordville near the end of the campaign, where she found the grave marker of her great-great-grandmother. She said people who had been enslaved were buried there, and described the discovery as a chance to express gratitude to her ancestor and others who came before her.
Bottoms’ victory made her Georgia’s first woman of color to hold its governorship and the first such woman to lead a state in the country. Walter Blackmon Jr., a longtime church member and usher, said he had lived through the civil rights era but had not thought such an election in Georgia was possible. He said he felt proud.
Middle school students from Denver attended the service as part of a civil rights trip that begins in Atlanta and continues to Memphis. Bottoms closed by saying the work ahead was beginning.
Bottoms’ Historic Win Brings New Meaning to Ebenezer
At Ebenezer Baptist Church, a landmark of the civil rights movement, Georgia Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms marked an election that broke a historic barrier. She spoke on November 8, thanking the congregation for its prayers and support. The congregation’s pastor, Sen. Raphael Warnock, invited her to speak.
Bottoms made history as Georgia’s first woman of color elected governor, and the first of her kind to win a state governorship anywhere in the United States. Her victory carries particular weight in a state where longtime church member Walter Blackmon Jr. said he once could not imagine such an outcome. He recalled the civil rights era and said the moment made him proud.
Bottoms connected her campaign to faith and family history, recounting how she found her great-great-grandmother’s headstone at a Crawfordville cemetery near the campaign’s end. She noted that people who had been enslaved were buried there and said the visit let her offer thanks to her ancestor and those who came before her.
The service also included middle schoolers from Denver on a civil rights trip from Atlanta to Memphis. Bottoms said the next phase was the real work, underscoring the responsibilities that follow a breakthrough election.
Bottoms Says Governing Work Starts After Historic Election
Keisha Lance Bottoms appeared at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church on November 8, celebrating her election while emphasizing that the work of governing lies ahead. The incoming governor thanked the congregation for its support and described faith as a guide during a campaign that began nearly a year and a half earlier.
Bottoms’ election makes her the first Black woman to become governor of Georgia and the first in the country. At the church, longtime member Walter Blackmon Jr. reflected on how unlikely that milestone once seemed to him. He said he was proud of the result.
She also spoke about finding the grave of her great-great-grandmother at a cemetery in Crawfordville near the end of the campaign. Bottoms said the cemetery holds the remains of people who had been enslaved and described the visit as an opportunity to thank her family’s ancestors.
Sen. Raphael Warnock, Ebenezer’s lead pastor, welcomed her to address the congregation. Middle school students from Denver were also at the service as part of a civil rights trip. Bottoms’ closing message turned from the historic campaign to the demands ahead: the real work is now beginning.
Reported by Atlanta News First, CNN.
