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Hosea Williams

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The Resume

    (January 25, 1926-November 16, 2000)
    Born in Attapulgus, Decatur County, Georgia
    Civil rights activist, research chemist, entrepreneur, and politician
    Birth name is Hosea Lorenzo Williams
    Worked for the United States Department of Agriculture as a research scientist, in the early 1950s
    Affiliated with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference
    Best known as a trusted aide within Martin Luther King, Jr.'s inner circle
    One of the organizers of the Selma March to Montgomery, which culminated in the 'Bloody Sunday' beatings on the Edmund Pettus Bridge (1965)
    Founder and President of the prominent social service organization, Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless
    Portrayed by Wendell Pierce in Ava DuVernay's 'Selma' (2014)
    Famous motto was 'Unbought and Unbossed'

Why he might be annoying:

    Martin Luther King called him his own 'Castro,' as well as his 'bull in a China closet.'
    He admitted to racketeering as a young man; including to working as a pimp and drug dealer.
    He was an early affiliate of 'General' Larry 'Pants on the Ground' Platt.
    He lost his 1966 gubernatorial race to segregationist Lester Maddox.
    He also waged unsuccessful bids for a Georgia Senate seat and Atlanta Mayor in 1972 and 1989, losing in the primaries both times.
    He was grandfather to Atlanta Real Housewife Porsha Williams (who famously thought the Underground Railroad was an actual railroad line).
    He was known as 'the most famous or infamous Georgia driver, licensed or otherwise' in Clayton County (his license was suspended in 1997).
    He changed political affiliations like he did socks; going from supporting Jimmy Carter in 1976 to Ronald Reagan in 1980, and then reverting back to a Dem in 1984 to support Walter Mondale.
    He was at the center of a heatedly tense exchange between Dick Gregory and a podcast host over rumors that Williams and Dr. King were gay lovers and that Coretta Scott King was actually a lesbian (Dec. 20, 2014).
    He fed into the conspiracy theory that MLK was targeted by the government when he commented that he had never known King to room at the Lorraine Hotel before (other King affiliates responded that if he had been to Memphis before he would have known that King regularly stayed there).

Why he might not be annoying:

    He gave Larry Platt his nickname, 'The General.'
    He was arrested and jailed over 125 times.
    He remains the only Georgia politician to win a local election while incarcerated.
    Martin Luther King entrusted him with organizing demonstrators in many of his nonviolent demonstrations.
    He served in an all-black unit under General Patton during WWII.
    He was hospitalized for over a year after being the sole survivor of a Nazi bombing (which won him a well-deserved Purple Heart).
    He made history as the first black chemist to be hired by the Federal Government south of the Mason-Dixon line.
    He was savagely beaten beyond recognition for drinking out of a 'Whites Only' fountain after his return, to the point where he was placed on a hearse en route to a funeral home before the driver realized he was still alive (he spent a month recuperating from the injuries).
    He was severely beaten and tear gassed during the infamous 'Bloody Sunday' attacks while peacefully demonstrating.
    He was assaulted with stones by Ku Klux Klan members during a peaceful 75-person march calling for integration in Forsythe County, Georgia. The following week, a crowd of 20,000 assembled, in addition to a heavy police presence and national media (1987).
    His Feed the Hungry & Homeless Campaign serves over 35,000 meals on assorted holidays, with charity dinner also including job fairs and free health screenings.
    He not only witnessed Dr. King's assassination, but is also in King's iconic 'last photo,' along with Jesse Jackson and Ralph Abernathy, but is usually either ignored or cropped out of it (he's off to the left carrying the bags).

Credit: BoyWiththeGreenHair


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 149 Votes: 55.03% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 6 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 22 Votes: 36.36% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 24 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 13 Votes: 46.15% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 29 Votes: 55.17% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 10 Votes: 80.0% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 100 Votes: 51.00% Annoying