Rev. Raphael Warnock, who won his Senate runoff against Kelly Loeffler, is yet another graduate of a historically Black college and university (HBCU) to have a hand in politics this year.
Warnock, a Morehouse College graduate, has credited the university for helping him grow and shaping who he is today.
Warnock is also the pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church, the same house of worship where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. served as pastor.
Other notable HBCU alumni who impacted politics this year includes the incoming vice president and Howard University graduate Kamala Harris, voting rights advocate Stacey Abrams (Spelman College), Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms (Florida A&M University), House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (South Carolina State), and Louisiana Congressman Cedric Richmond (Morehouse).
All had a hand in Democrats now controlling the Senate, House, and White House.
Abrams started her voting rights organization Fair Fight after losing the 2018 Georgia Governor’s race to Brian Kemp, who was accused of widespread voter suppression. Fair Fight used a grassroots work ethic, going from door to door to get more than 300,000 Black Americans in the state registered to vote.
Lance Bottoms not only stumped for President-elect Joe Biden and Harris outside of Georgia, but was paramount in getting the State Farm Arena and the Mercedes-Benz Stadium to be used for early voting.
Clyburn was huge in Biden’s turnaround in the Democratic primary and was also one of the voices pushing the former vice president to choose a Black woman as his running mate.
Warnock, who was a guest on the Morning Culture with Big Tigger, told those who voted for him that the work is not over and to stay engaged.
“I want people to be clear—you voted for me, but you can’t outsource your democracy to anybody, including me,” Warnock said. “We need all hands on deck—not just to get me elected—we need all hands on deck to hold all of us accountable.”
There are more than 100 HBCUs across the country and according to the United Negro College Fund
, HBCUs are responsible for almost one-fifth of all bachelors degrees earned by Black Americans.Robert Stephens, founder of the HBCU Collective, said last year that the mission of all HBCUs is for its students to be great in the classroom and great in life.
“The spirit of we’re going to be great, we’re going to succeed, we’re going to be successful flows through HBCUs as well as this sense of belonging to a greater purpose,” Stephens said according to CNN.