Keith Williams
Keith Oliver Williams (born April 25, 1974) is an associate minister at St Mark Missionary Baptist Church, a community activist, a pastoral care counselor for Church of the Highlands, and an author and freelance web designer. He is also a community activist and officer of the North Titusville Neighborhood Association.
Williams was the third of five children born to Albert Williams Sr and the former Dorothy Leon Hampton. He graduated from Parker High School in 1992 and earned a degree in finance at Alabama State University in 1996. He continued his studies at Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia while serving in the U.S. Army, graduating in 2008. He married the former Sheona Billesha Tibbs in 2001. While living in Virginia, he founded his Greater Works Business Services web design firm in 1998, and Great I Am Ministries Outreach International in 2003. He has also taken on-line courses in biblical studies and web development.
Since returning to Birmingham in 2016, Williams has worked as a sales associate at Wal-Mart and Lowe's and volunteered with Junior Achievement and through his involvement at True Light Missionary Baptist Church. As a community activist he co-founded the Voters Legal Justice Watch Group and is a member of Faith in Action Alabama, Our Revolution Birmingham, the Poor People's Campaign, Alabama Arise, Neighborhood Advocates for Justice, and Birmingham United Neighborhoods.
In 2016 Williams lobbied against the proposed relocation of the Greater Birmingham Humane Society to the Trinity Park site in Titusville and called for implementing the Titusville Community Framework Plan. Following the 2018 Riverchase Galleria shooting, he helped to organize a boycott and acted as a legal observer during ongoing protests in Hoover.
Williams challenged incumbent Sheila Tyson for Birmingham City Council District 6 in the 2017 Birmingham municipal election. He was motivated to run by a desire to end the antagonism and secrecy he perceived in City Hall. Williams finished last in the three-way race, with 210 votes.
In 2018, after Tyson left her Birmingham City Council seat vacant to be sworn into the Jefferson County Commission, Williams applied to be appointed by the Council to fill her seat. He and his wife divorced that year.
Williams was elected vice president of the North Titusville Neighborhood Association in 2019. That year he spoke out against a proposal for a Sherman Industries concrete plant in Five Points West. During the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic he was active in securing and delivering emergency supplies and relief funds. He also supported the RWDSU Mid-South Council's efforts to unionize workers at the Bessemer Amazon Fulfillment Center.
On August 25, 2020 Williams announced his candidacy for Birmingham City Council District 6, challenging incumbent Crystal Smitherman in the 2021 election.
Publications
- Williams, Keith Oscar (2013) The True Experience, Volume 1.
- Williams, Keith Oscar (2013) Spirit Led, Spirit Fed,
- Williams, Keith Oscar (2013) Lessons for Life.
- Williams, Keith Oscar (2013) The Oscarian Theory Series.
- Williams, Keith Oscar (2013) The Beatitudes.
- Williams, Keith Oscar (2014) The World of Christian Doctrine, Vol. 1.
- Williams, Keith Oscar (2014) The World of Christian Doctrine, Vol. 2.
- Williams, Keith Oscar (2014) The World of Christian Doctrine, Vol. 3.
- Williams, Keith Oscar (2016) Sermon Stories
- Williams, Keith Oscar (2016) More Story Sermons
- Williams, Keith Oscar (2019) The Wonder Book of Biblical Stories.
- Williams, Keith Oscar (2019) Nouthetic-Biblical Counseling. self-published ISBN 9781096017196
References
- Daniel, J. H. (May 10, 2017) "Keith O. Williams is running as a District 6 city council candidate, Birmingham." Bham Now
- Prickett, Sam (October 2, 2019) "Keith O. Williams" BirminghamWatch
External links
- Keith O. Williams campaign website