Biography for Hon. Tyrone Brooks
Representative Tyrone Brooks is now known around the world as the man who brought down that old, racist, divine symbol, the Georgia Confederate flag. He is a lifelong member of the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Warrenton, GA and his Atlanta church home is the West Hunter Street Baptist Church in the west end.
Tyrone Brooks began his career in public service as an activist for civil and human rights at the age of 15 as a volunteer with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC). He became a full-time staffer of the organization in 1967 under Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Under Dr. King, Rev. Ralph David Abernathy and Dr. Joseph E. Lowery, he served in many positions, nationally and locally. Brooks is President of an SCLC affiliate (GABEO). He has been at the forefront and involved in the struggle for freedom, justice and equality since 1960 and has been jailed 65 times for civil rights work.
Elected in 1980 as a member of the Georgia House of Representatives, Brooks serves on three committees: Appropriations, Retirement and Vice Chairman of State Institutions and Property. During his tenure as state representative he has consistently created and supported legislation to help the poor and oppressed people in our society. He led the successful movement to reactivate the town of Keysville, Georgia in spite of the many threats against his life. He also led the campaign against Apartheid in South Africa by championing legislation to divest all public funds controlled by the State of Georgia from that former brutal, inhumane government. He sponsored legislation calling for the unconditional release of Nelson Mandela. Along with Dr. Ralph David Abernathy, Dick Gregory and many others, Brooks was arrested at the South African Embassy in Washington, D.C. on Thanksgiving Day November 1976 and jailed for protesting the massacre in Soweto while calling for the end to the Apartheid government.
Tyrone Brooks has worked to eradicate racism, sexism, illiteracy and injustice. Some of the laws he has helped pass include the Anti-terrorism law, the establishment of the Positive Employment and Community Help (PEACH) Program, and the Reapportionment Max Black Plan. His House Bill 16 resulted in winning an almost twenty-year battle in the General Assembly to change the Georgia state flag. It became law January 31, 2001. Because of this historic victory, the John Marshall School of Law honored him with his first honorary law degree in May of 2001.
Representative Brooks is an active member of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus. President of the Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials, cofounder of the Coalition for a People's Agenda, and serves in many other organizations. He has dedicated his life to the achievement of complete justice and equality.
Biographical Information
Lifetime Human Rights Activist
Speaker-Lecturer
Business & Political Consultant's Firm, C.E.O. and Chairman
Pres., Georgia Association of Black Elected Officials
NAACP
SCLC
The Rainbow Coalition
The Million Man March, local organizing committee
Honors and Awards
Best Legislator, A. Phillip Randolph Labor Institute
Best Legislator, Georgia Association of Social Welfare
Civil Liberties Award, American Civil Liberties Union
NAACP Hall of Fame
Public Servant Award, Atlanta City Council
50 Most Influential Men in Georgia, Georgia Coalition of Black Women
SCLC President Award
Father of the Year Award, Concerned Black Clergy
Political History
1980 Elected to the Georgia State House of Representatives