Hosea Lorenzo Williams was an American civil rights leader, activist, ordained minister, businessman, philanthropist, scientist, and politician. He is best known as a trusted member of fellow famed civil rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King Jr.'s inner circle. Under the banner of their flagship organization, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, King depended on Williams to organize and stir masses of people into nonviolent direct action in myriad protest campaigns they waged against racial, political, economic, and social injustice. King alternately referred to Williams, his chief field lieutenant, as his "bull in a china shop" and his "Castro." Vowing to continue King's work for the poor, Williams is well known in his own right as the founding president of one of the largest social services organizations in North America, Hosea Feed the Hungry and Homeless. His famous motto was "Unbought and Unbossed."
Williams in 1966
Hosea Williams, image and text from recognition documents distributed by the Alabama Dept. of Public Safety in the mid–1960s.
Campaign button used in Williams' 1972 primary race
Williams delivering a speech at a rally, 1974.
Southern Christian Leadership Conference
The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) is an African-American civil rights organization based in Atlanta, Georgia. SCLC is closely associated with its first president, Martin Luther King Jr., who had a large role in the American civil rights movement.
Martin Luther King Jr. at the March on Washington
Image: 08 15 1964 20069 Martin Luther King (4086739403) grey Back
Image: Ralph Abernathy portrait by Robert Templeton
Image: Joseph Lowery 2000 (cropped)