ABOUT

As the son of working class parents and the grandson of sharecroppers, Mark Patrick George has committed his life to better understanding oppression and inequality so that he and others might work for progressive social change. For nearly four decades that commitment has largely focused on doing social justice work with grassroots and non-profits organizations in the Southeast, Southwest, and Pacific Northwest. During this time, Mark also founded and coordinated the Mary Turner Project (www.maryturner.org) from 2007 until 2021, a historic multiracial, multigenerational, grassroots organization that was created to research and address the legacies of slavery and lynching, as well as current day issues of racial injustice, throughout the deep South.

Along with decades of community based research and organizing, Mark has also earned Bachelors Degrees in Sociology & Philosophy from Valdosta State University, a Master’s Degree in Philosophy from Texas A&M University, a Doctorate in Sociology from the University of New Mexico and he taught at the undergraduate and graduate levels for nearly 20 years. In addition to his popular writing, academic research, and scholarly publications, he has also produced grassroots documentary films on the topics of whiteness, Confederate culture, as well as segregation and desegregation in the deep south, and he is currently working on film that examines male violence.

Today, Mark continues to help organize cross racial discussions and conduct community based "action" research. As a result, he spends much of his time working with individuals and organizations as they develop a shared critical, actionable analysis of the issues that impact their lives and communities (e.g. political accountability and transparency, predatory lending, failing education systems, mass incarceration, the poverty industry, the police state, etc.). In that work, much time and attention is also devoted to organizational capacity, development, and sustainability, as well as the development and implementation of short and long-term strategies for change.

BRIEF WORK TIMELINE

2024 - Completed the documentary film “Pinevale, Separate, Unequal, Undeterred“ that chronicled some of the local history of segregation and impact of desegregation on the Black community in Valdosta, Georgia.

2021 - In collaboration with Concerned Clergy of Valdosta, Georgia, Mark authored and filed an formal ethics complaint against Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson concerning racist comments he made about black voters.

2007 to 2021 - Founded and coordinated Mary Turner Project, an all-volunteer, diverse, multi-generational, grassroots volunteer collective of students, educators, and local community members committed to racial justice and racial reconciliation. Some of that work included researching assorted lynchings that occurred in the south and petitioning the Georgia Historical Society to co-sponsor the creation and erection of a memorial marker acknowledging and commemorating the 1918 lynching of Mary Turner, her husband Hayes, and 12 other victims. The MTP also conducted research for numerous families and descendants of lynching victims who contacted the project hoping to find out more about what happened to their family members. The MTP also did extensive community based education about the legacies of slavery throughout the deep South and it held public forums on the subject. The MTP also launched a multi-year effort to digitize and make available to the public a searchable database of all documented lynchings in the U.S. as well a public slavery database derived directly from the 1860 U.S. Census Slave Schedules. The MTP also organized and held multiple half-day commemoration ceremonies memorializing those lynched in south Georgia in 1918.

2017-2018 – Served as an advisor and resource person for the Portland, Oregon YWCA's antiracist initiative.

2017 – Mark, in collaboration with my colleague Dr. Dana Williams, completed a documentary film on Confederate culture in the deep south. That film, entitled “Southern Discomfort“, critically analyzes the persistence of Confederate culture in the deep south and the racist mythology it perpetuates. The film also draws attention to how the state tax revenues of assorted southern states are used to buttress and sustain the racist mythologies of the "lost cause."

2016-2018 - Served as faculty advisor for Portland Community College chapter of "Don't Shoot Portland," a student driven organization aimed at addressing police harassment and racial profiling in Portland.

2015 - In partnership with the Lowndes Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Mark authored and filed a formal Civil Rights complaint against the State of Georgia with the U.S. Department of Justice. That complaint alleged that the Governor and State Legislature, with their celebration of the Confederacy and Confederate leaders, are in violation of Georgia’s citizens 14th Amendment rights (Section1).

2014 – Launched "Its Hate Not Heritage Campaign," drawing attention to the use of state tax revenue to memorialize and celebrate Confederate leaders. This attention included an open letter to Governor Nathan Deal and Georgia legislators which outlined that institutional racism perpetrated by the state in its glorification and celebration of the Confederacy.

2014 – Submitted testimony to Senator Durbin and Members of the United States Senate's Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights making them aware of the state of Georgia's continued use of tax payer revenue to celebrate and support assorted Confederate events with state tax revenue.

2013 – Completed a small documentary entitled “Whitewashed, Unmasking the World of Whiteness” which critically explored the topics of whiteness, racism, and white racial identity.

2010-2012 - Served as faculty advisor for Valdosta State University's chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. assisting students in the planning of events on campus.

2007 to 2012 – Served as the Chairperson of the Lowndes County Chapter of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference’s Education Committee. In that role Mark conducted extensive research on racial inequality (as it manifested in the area's education and criminal justice systems) in order to develop action plans to address said inequalities. In light of that research, Mark also authored and filed a successful Department of Justice Civil Rights complaint against Valdosta City Schools because; they were internally and externally racially segregated; they were not in full compliance with a 1970 federal desegregation order; they had never met Affirmative Action recruitment requirements; and they had glaring racial disparities relative to the education and disciplinary actions involving students of color, among other issues. That complaint led to a formal DoJ investigation of the school system, forcing it to come into full desegregation compliance in 2012.

2007 - Conducted year long analysis of national "Project Change" anti-racist initiatives and was lead author on a community report entitled "On the Ground, Struggles and Lessons of Antiracism Work” that chronicled some of the challenges of conducting cross racial dialogue and working for racial justice.

2006 – While a faculty member at Georgia State University (GSU), and working with the organization "Caucasians United for Reparations and Emancipation (CURE)," Mark organized the first national gathering for White supporters and advocates for racial reparations. The text "The Debtors: Whites Respond to the Call for Black Reparations,” was published from the presentations and discussions generated at that conference.

2004-2005 Volunteered and interned with the non-profit organization Men Stopping Violence (MSV) based in Atlanta, Georgia. MWV was a metro Atlanta-based organization that used a community-based accountability model to address the problem of male violence against women and children.

1998-2001 – While a PhD candidate in the University of New Mexico’s Sociology program, Mark worked with other students to bring attention to and address the lack of racial diversity among U.N.M faculty and administrators. Mark also served as a resource person and grant writer for Latina lead grassroots organizations based in Albuquerque.

1998-2001 - Volunteered with the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) in Albuquerque, New Mexico and worked with them on multiple efforts involving indigenous water/land rights and the negative social, environmental, and economic impact of Industrial Revenue Bonds being given to multinational corporations based in New Mexico.

1996 to 1998 – Worked personally with Mr. Kwame Cannon in order to win his freedom from the North Carolina Corrections system. Mr. Kwame Cannon who at 17, and in a plea bargain negotiated without a parent present, received two life sentences for 5 counts of non-violent burglary. Because of our efforts, Mr. Cannon was released from prison in 1999 after serving 13 years. During that effort I challenged the Governor of North Carolina on live television to commute Mr. Cannon’s sentences. Mark produced assorted forms of media (fact sheets, posters, hand-outs) that educated the white community about Mr. Cannon’s plight. I also staged assorted actions and organized press conferences to publicize his story. And Mark worked closely with Kwame’s mother Wilena Cannon, one of the survivors of the 1979 Greensboro massacre, a mass killing involving the Ku Klux Klan.

1996-1998 – Co-director, along with Co-Director Elder Nettie Coad of the anti-racist initiative called "The Partnership Project” in Greensboro, North Carolina. There Mark conducted public training and engagement around issues of racial inequality. Mark also organized, facilitated, and coordinated antiracist trainings for grassroots community members and area institutional stakeholders. He also wrote grants, fund raised, and conducted community based, action research around issues of racial and economic inequality in the region.

1992-1996 – Volunteered and worked with Valdosta based Project Change, a multi-racial, antiracist initiative funded by the Levi Straus Foundation. During that time, and among other duties, Mark co-authored grants for the organization; negotiated/mediated racial conflicts in the community; elicited financial support from leaders in the white community for the erection of a monument acknowledging the contributions of enslaved people in South Georgia; helped organize and participated in countless multi-racial “dialogues” on racial inequality in the region; served as a Board Member for the organization; and served as the Executive Director of the organization in 1996.

1988-1991 - While a graduate student at Texas A&M University Mark participated in efforts to get graduate students and adjunct faculty insurance coverage. He also involved in efforts to bring attention to Texas gubernatorial candidate Clayton Williams' sexist history and helped organize non-violent protests against the first Gulf War.

More information & academic vita available on request.

Past & Present Organizational Affiliations
Reparations Sundays, Atlanta, GA
Concerned Clergy, Valdosta, GA
Pacific Sociological Association
National Women Studies Association
Georgia Sociological Association
Association for Humanist Sociology
Lowndes/Valdosta Chapter of S.C.L.C., Valdosta, GA
Society for the Study of Social Problems
Caucasians United for Reparations and Emancipation, Atlanta, GA
Atlanta Organizing Project, Atlanta, GA
Men Stopping Violence, Atlanta, GA
The People's Tribunal, Valdosta, GA
Southwest Organizing Project, Albuquerque, N.M.
The Partnership Project, Greensboro, N.C.
Project Change Antiracist Initiatives, Valdosta, GA