While working with Reverend Williams, he had an opportunity at a young age to work with national leadership, including such individuals as Reverend Dr. Ralph Abernathy, Rev. Dr. Joseph Lowery, NBA Hall of Famer Walt Bellamy, former wrestler Thunderbolt Patterson, and the late Mrs. Coretta Scott King. Under the direction of his mentor and following the loss of two friends to senseless murders, Representative Gilliard returned to Savannah to take action against the violence that plagued his city. He formed the first positive rap group in the nation entitled Candy Love. They became the first rap group to render public service announcements for the United Negro College Fund, Coca-Cola, the Georgia Department of Family Services, Reverend Jesse Jackson, Nelson Mandela, and the National Stop the Violence campaign with Tommy Lasorda of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Continuing his work in Savannah, Representative Gilliard was responsible for forming the largest youth group in the nation, Project Love. He also founded the Chatham County Youth Commission, the Saturday Morning Academy, and programs like the Savannah Drama Club. He was the first African-American contributing writer for Connect Savannah. He has written four national gospel plays; he also hosted the number one talk show in Savannah for 10 years on WSOJ entitled “Tell it like it is.” He has hosted the television show on Cable 7 entitled “The Savannah Edition.” In 1995, he was appointed by the national SCLC as the president of the Georgia Coastal SCLC, which encompassed over 15 cities in Georgia.

In 2009, he founded Feed the Hungry, a 501(c)(3) whose mission is to feed, restore, and add dignity to the working poor. Currently, Feed the Hungry has served in over 14 cities and provided over 1.5 million meals. In 2019, Representative Gilliard was named one of the top 100 most influential African-Americans in Georgia. He currently has a segment on six syndicated radio stations entitled “Word Up” and on four ESPN radio stations, along with Magic 103.9 FM and WEAS FM.

Representative Gilliard was elected and is serving his fourth term in the Georgia General Assembly for House District 162. He’s responsible for landmark legislation that he authored entitled “The Blind Bill,” giving blind parents a chance to be parents and no longer allowing their children to be taken away from them. He’s also one of the few Democrats to Chair a study committee and recently has had landmark legislation passed in House Bill 750, the Chatham County Legislative Gang Prevention and Intervention Commission, which is serving as a model for the State of Georgia.

He was the original author of House Bill 479 repealing Georgia’s Citizen Arrest Law, which was recently passed. Representative Gilliard worked with New York Senator Michael Gianaris in co-authoring and passing legislation in New York, and with Representative Wendell Gilliard in South Carolina. His work has been championed in this session of the Geneva Convention.

He has been labeled as the “James Brown” of the Georgia General Assembly as one of the hardest-working legislators in Georgia and has delivered more legislation than any Democrat in the House or the Senate over the last three sessions. He is currently working on the film entitled The Original 33 about the first Black original legislators in Georgia.

Representative Carl Gilliard has received a Doctor of Christian Leadership & Business from Kingdom Ambassadors Global Institute Inc. and New Generation Bible Institute. In 2021, he was voted as the GLBC Legislator of the Year. He is the Chairman of the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus, the largest Black Caucus in the nation.

Ladies and gentlemen, the gentleman from District 162: The Honorable Representative Carl W. Scott Gilliard.

Contact Information

• Capitol Address: 512-G Coverdell Legislative Office Bldg., Atlanta, GA 30334
• Atlanta Office: 404.656.7859
• Savannah Office: 912.436.5325
• Sworn In: May 5, 2016

Committees

• Chairman, International Trade and Commerce Ad-Hoc Committee
• Appropriations
• Insurance
• Transportation
• Interstate Cooperation
• State Properties
• The Georgia Japan Caucus
• The Georgia Entertainment Caucus
• Working Committee on Arts and Entertainment Georgia
• Commission on Film, Music, and Digital Download Legislative and Congress
• Reapportionment
• The Learning Working Group