Georgia NAACP President James “Major” Woodall to serve as 2021 MLK Celebration speaker

January 21, 2021

Georgia NAACP President and Georgia Southern University alumnus Rev. James “Major” Woodall (’18), will serve as the 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. celebration speaker on Jan. 26 on the Armstrong Campus and on Jan. 27 on the Statesboro Campus.

Limited in-person tickets are available to students, faculty and staff for the presentation, “Where Do We Go From Here? Chaos or Community.” The events, which will be followed by Q&A sessions, will take place at the following locations:

Armstrong Campus
Tuesday, Jan. 26
Fine Arts Auditorium
6 p.m.
Reserve seat here.

Statesboro Campus
Wednesday, Jan. 27
Performing Arts Center (PAC)
6 p.m.
For tickets, email pac@georgiasouthern.edu or reserve seat here.
*This event will be livestreamed for community members to view on the University’s Facebook page.

A native of Riverdale, Georgia, Woodall graduated from Georgia Southern with a bachelor’s in political science and a minor in religious studies. Currently, he is in his final year of the Master of Divinity program at the Morehouse School of Religion in the Interdenominational Theological Center and serves as an associate minister at Pleasant Grove Baptist Church in Marietta, Georgia.

A respected public theologian and activist, Woodall was named as Georgia Southern’s 2020 Georgia Southern Civic Engagement Alumni of the Year and included in the “40 Under 40” Class of 2020.

Woodall, an eight-year veteran of the U.S. Army Reserve who served as an intelligence analyst, ran for Georgia state representative in 2016. He also served on the state committee of the Democratic Party of Georgia and as state vice president of the Georgia Clients Council. In addition, he was the deputy campaign manager for Francys Johnson’s congressional run and a legislative aide to Georgia State Rep. Miriam Paris for three years.

A Silver-Life member of the NAACP, Woodall previously served as state president of the organization’s Georgia Youth and College Division, vice president of the Bulloch County branch and state chairman of the Young Adults Committee. In December 2018, he graduated as an inaugural member of the NAACP Next Generation Program, a leadership cohort.

Georgia Southern University, a public Carnegie Doctoral/R2 institution founded in 1906, offers approximately 140 different degree programs serving almost 27,000 students through 10 colleges on three campuses in Statesboro, Savannah, Hinesville and online instruction. A leader in higher education in southeast Georgia, the University provides a diverse student population with expert faculty, world-class scholarship and hands-on learning opportunities. Georgia Southern creates lifelong learners who serve as responsible scholars, leaders and stewards in their communities. Visit GeorgiaSouthern.edu.