Georgia Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms speaks at historic Ebenezer Baptist Church

Share Add Us On Google Add as a preferred source on Google ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) — Georgia Gov.-elect Keisha Lance Bottoms spoke at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church on Sunday morning, thanking the congregation for its prayers and votes following her historic election. Bottoms became the first Black woman elected governor of Georgia and the first Black woman elected governor in U.S. history. Ebenezer Baptist Church is a cornerstone of the civil rights movement. Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, the church’s lead pastor, welcomed Bottoms to speak before the congregation. “Thank you, Ebenezer, for all your prayers and your votes,” Bottoms said, drawing cheers. The governor-elect described how her faith guided her campaign. “Pastor, when we began this campaign almost a year and a half ago, I didn’t know where the resources would come from. But I knew that I had prayed and God told me to go. It was moving me out of my comfort zone and I said repeatedly, ‘He won’t give vision without provision,’” she said. Walter Blackmon Jr., an usher and 40-year member of Ebenezer, reflected on the significance of her election. “I can remember Dr. King and all the things we went through over at the AU center. I never thought it was possible — let alone a female — in the state of Georgia,” Blackmon said. Asked how the moment made him feel, he said, “Proud.” Dozens of middle school students from across the country also attended the service. Ben Simmons, an eighth-grade history teacher from Denver, said the students were on a civil rights trip. “Every year, we take the entire eighth grade on a civil rights trip that starts in Atlanta and goes all the way to Memphis. This is the first day, so we come to the service, which is one of the most special parts of the trip,” Simmons said. “I think it’s a really good experience,” said Luisa McKinstry, an eighth-grade student from Denver. Bottoms also described a visit near the end of her campaign to a cemetery in Crawfordville, where she found her great-great-grandmother’s headstone. “People who were once enslaved are buried in this cemetery and we found the headstone of my great-great-grandmother,” Bottoms said. “I don’t believe it’s happenstance that on the eve of this historic election in Georgia, that I made it to the gravesite that we didn’t even know existed. I got to tell her thank you. I got to tell all the ancestors thank you. Now I get to tell you thank you.” “And now the real work begins,” Bottoms said. Copyright 2026 WANF. All rights reserved.