Leadership

I joined Racial Justice Georgia because it is both my duty and my responsibility. I was born during an era of segregation, a time that shaped my earliest memories, though I didn’t fully understand its implications until much later. Some childhood experiences left me deeply confused, only to be clarified with the passage of time.

One vivid memory has stayed with me since I was about three or four years old. My father, who passed away when I was four, is at the center of this story. One sweltering summer day in my hometown, my father drove my grandfather to the county courthouse to pay his land taxes. My older sister was just a year ahead of me, and I accompanied them. My father parked the car under the shade of a tree at the back of the courthouse. While my grandfather went inside, we waited in the car, the heat seemingly endless. Eventually, my sister and I began pestering my father to take us to the restroom. After our relentless requests, he relented and took us inside.

The courthouse was like a world I had never seen before. As soon as we stepped in, I felt the cool air hit my face, a relief that was both physical and emotional. The floors gleamed so brightly I could see my reflection. The entire space was immaculate and mesmerizing. As we walked through, white women dressed in what we would call church clothes—stockings and high heels—glanced at us with curious eyes.

When we finally entered the restroom, however, the contrast was staggering. The small bathroom was filthy. The floor was marred with dried footprints, the toilet ran ceaselessly, and paper littered the floor. The toilet tissue roll was empty, the sink was wet and dirty, and a grimy cloth towel hunglimply from a dispenser, nearly touching the floor. The stark difference between the pristine courthouse and this repulsive restroom etched itself into my memory.

Years later, after finishing graduate school, I recounted this story to my mother, as I had many times before. It was during one of these conversations that she realized I had never understood the full context of that experience. She explained to me that the bathroom we used that day was designated for Black people. Her words finally provided the clarity I had been missing all those years.

That brief, powerful moment in the courthouse left an indelible mark on me. It was then, as young as I was, that I resolved to one day hold a job like the women working there on that summer day. It fueled my commitment to racial justice, a commitment I carry forward not only for myself but for my three little grandchildren and all those who will come after them. This work is for all my people everywhere.

It was an epiphany whose meaning took some time to fully unfold: when he was 20, in a small village in Ghana, John was jolted into racial self-awareness and felt the first spark of a concern for racial justice. The spark has grown into an abiding passion, and it informs his work as an academic historian, an active citizen in his local community, and an Episcopalian excited about the Becoming Beloved Community initiative.

John grew up in Atlanta and lives in Augusta, where he is a History professor at Augusta University. He was raised Methodist and as an adult found his way back to the Episcopal Church. He is a member of St. Augustine’s of Canterbury. In the local community, he is a leader in the 1970 Augusta Riot Observance Committee, the Coalition for Comprehensive Change, and the Augusta African-American Historical Society. He is personally inspired by his ancestor Eben Hayes, a South Carolina farmer and Methodist preacher, twice elected to the state legislature on the “radical” Reconstruction vision of interracial democracy and equal rights for all.

Rev. Billy is the Rector of St. Alban’s Episcopal Church in Augusta and priest-in-charge of the Church of the Atonement in Hephzibah. He was born in Sylvester and grew up in Albany, where he attended the public schools of Dougherty County. Billy earned a Liberal Arts degree from Darton College and a BA in Speech and Theatre from Albany State University. He is a veteran of the US Navy.

Billy was baptized in the Missionary Baptist Church, confirmed at St. John’s Episcopal Church, Albany, and attended the Virginia Theological Seminary. He was ordained a deacon at St. Patrick’s Episcopal Church, Albany, on June 11, 1992 and ordained to the priesthood on March 25, 1993. He was installed as the sixth rector of St. Alban’s, Augusta, on June 6, 1993, where he presently serves.

Billy has served on the Standing Committee of the Diocese of Georgia, as a General Convention Deputy, on the Racial Healing Committee, as president of the VTS Alumni (AAEC), and as Dean of the Augusta Convocation. He is the father of two adult sons and five granddaughters and one grandson of whom he is enormously proud.

When Lela’s father was elected the first Black superintendent of schools in the state of Georgia, her family’s home was riddled with bullets by people from an upset white community. Her brother’s bed was hit several times, but fortunately, her family was gathered in the den and spared being injured. As a child, one doesn’t grasp the gravity of that type of anger or understand what did my family do to make someone want to kill us. 

Lela knew Coretta Scott King, John Lewis, and civil rights activist John McCowen, who died mysteriously in a plane crash, and yet none of this actually inspired her to speak out against racism and injustice. Why does hearing of and seeing the atrocities perpetuated against people because of skin color, race, nationality, cultural differences, sexual orientation and more become such an issue for her now?  Now is the time when the opportunity has presented itself, when she is no longer sheltered from the results of the Doctrine of Discovery initiated by the Church—realizing now that in the name of Jesus Christ the doctrine became a powerful system to dehumanize those living on the land and to justify their dispossession, murder, and forced assimilation. The Doctrine, the precursor for white supremacy, still is the root of racial divide and thus causes in Lela the desire not to have lived without throwing even a small pebble in the waters of life that will create a ripple effect to help bring the love of Christ in the hearts of men “to do unto others as they will have them do unto them.

Rev. June is Vicar of All Saints Episcopal Church on Tybee Island. She was born in Albany and graduated from Albany High School. She grew up in Sherwood Baptist church, where she and her parents were founding members. June attended LaGrange College for 2 years, then graduated from the University of Georgia with a degree in Music Education. She received her MDiv from Candler School of Theology at Emory University. Since becoming a priest, she has served St. John’s (Bainbridge), Holy Nativity (St. Simons Island), and now is Vicar of her home parish. June has been married to Kent Failing for 30+ years –and gives thanks for his patience and love everyday. Her family includes Kent’s beloved son and daughter and their talented spouses, and 2 incredibly spoiled small dogs who think they are Great Danes. Life at the beach is wonderful! 

June grew up in the midst of the Civil Rights struggle, watching the violence against Blacks in the daily news and in Albany. She heard often the cliche: If not now, when? If not me, who? Watching the same protests and hearing the same excuses now that were rife in the 1960s forced her to consider how she could be part of the solution to racism. God is always on the side of the poor, the neglected, the oppressed. Should not God’s church join the battle against the evil done to our brothers and sisters?

Karen is a member of St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Rincon and a Certified Spiritual Director with a heart for contemplative practice, spiritual development, and a deep desire for healing and wholeness of all God’s creation. As a young girl, Karen watched and learned from her grandmother as she demonstrated God’s love to people in the community who were often overlooked and forgotten. For Karen, being a part of this ministry honors her grandmother’s teachings that all of God’s children are equally valued and beloved. This ministry enables her to live out Jesus’ command to love God and neighbor as together we dream and live more fully into Becoming God’s Beloved Community.

Reverend Susan graduated from Virginia Theological Seminary and joined St. Barnabas Episcopal Church in Valdosta, GA, as a transitional deacon on August 1, 2021. She was ordained to the Sacred Order of Priests at St. Barnabas on January 22, 2022 and serves there as the part-time Priest-in-Charge.  Her other occupation is as a licensed massage therapist in Tallahassee, Florida, where she lives with her wife, Isabelle. A native of New Hampshire, she is a fan of all New England professional sports teams and enjoys listening to baseball games over the MLB app. She started her professional life as a reporter, producer, and host at WFSU-FM and Florida Public Radio, where she covered state politics and the Florida Supreme Court. She is passionate about social justice, and takes to heart the mission of Jesus as found in Luke 4:18:

“‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.”

The Reverend Kimberly E. Dunn is the Associate Rector of the historic Saint Paul’s Church in Augusta, Georgia. Her expertise in community bridge-building, outreach, and pastoral care in the Central Savannah River Area (CSRA) is dynamic and impactful. It is this kind of work that enriches Kimberly’s passion for people and adds to her vocational call as a priest to and in the Episcopal Church. She is currently serving on the Diocesan Council and is a training facilitator for conflict transformation for the Diocese of Georgia. She is an active member of Women in Philanthropy and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., has served on several task forces for racial justice and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion), and is an advocate for mental health. Kimberly serves on the Board of Trustees for the Augusta Museum of History and the Byllesby Center. She earned both a BM and MM degrees in Vocal Performance and an MDiv. from Virginia Theological Seminary. She has been in education for 30 years in both public and private institutions as a university professor. She was introduced to Augusta with a television appearance on “The Parade of Quartets” with Karlton Howard, via WLCZ 98.7 FM Worship and Word Station with Michael Cooper, and is recognized as a Woman To Watch by Dee Griffin WBJF Channel 6 News-Augusta. She is a published author and editor and is a transformative speaker on various topics that empower, inspire, motivate, and enrich. Kimberly has two extraordinary sons.

“‘The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free.”

The Reverend Guillermo A. Arboleda (he/him/él) is the Program Manager for New Church Starts for the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Denominational Center. He coordinates with Lutheran synods (regional bodies) in the USA and the Caribbean as they plan for and launch new worshiping communities, supports new worshiping communities with grant funding, coaching, and training, and coordinates with other Christian denominations doing similar work. Guillermo previously served as the Rector of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, Savannah, and the Missioner for Racial Justice in the Episcopal Diocese of Georgia. His local work in the diocese includes community organizing, political advocacy, training leaders in anti-racism, and theological research about criminal justice policy. He has degrees from Messiah University and Duke University Divinity School. Guillermo is the grandchild of Ecuadorian, Dominican, and Puerto Rican immigrants, and he is married to the Rev. Kelly Steele, the Rector of St. Peter’s Episcopal Church, Savannah.