User:Ground Zero/Markel Hutchins

The Reverend Markel Hutchins, 32, is an American civil rights leader, businessman and renowned Baptist preacher based in Atlanta, Georgia. He is Chairman and CEO of Markel Hutchins Ministries and Managing Principal of MRH, LLC. In 1997 he established the Atlanta-based National Youth Connection, which has been characterized as a contemporary Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee. Hutchins is a former Methodist pastor who received an Honorary Doctorate of Divinity degree. After leaving the African Methodist Episcopal Church he affiliated with numerous Baptist denominations.

Hutchins was the leading advocate and family spokesman following the police shootiings of high school student Rafael Christian in April 2008, of Kathryn Johnston in November 2006 and numerous others over the past decade.

He was a participant in the Harvard Kennedy School Executive Session on Human Rights Commissions and Criminal Justice which brought leaders of U.S. human rights and human relations commissions together with civil rights leaders, police leaders and Harvard faculty. It head a series of meetings focused on ways to expand the role of human rights commissions in addressing issues of discrimination in U.S. criminal justice systems between December 2005 and November 2008.

Controversy
In early December 2006, Rev. Hutchins was charged with passing a bad check for cosmetic work done on his $60,000 2006 Lexus SUV. According to the Atlanta Journal Constitution, "he was booked, fingerprinted and had his mug shot taken on a charge of writing a bad check for $275". Rev. Hutchins maintained that the charges were an attempt to discredit him for his high-profile criticism of the Atlanta Police Department for the November 21, 2006 shooting death of 92 year old Kathryn Johnston in a "no-knock" police raid and numerous other police brutality and racial profiling cases around the nation. The charges were subsequently dropped by the Forsyth County magistrate after Hutchins met with the complainant and settled the matter amicably. But not entirely amicably. Hutchins, who "served as the Estate/Family Spokesman; principal strategist and issue manager" during the pendency of the suit against the City of Atlanta, filed a lawsuit against Dozier in August 2011 in order to enforce a $490,000 consulting fee he claims he is owed for his efforts "that made the significant settlement possible."[37]. That amount represented 10% of the agreed settlement with the family.

2008 Congressional election
On February 20, 2008, Hutchins announced his bid to unseat 11-term congressman and civil rights luminary, John Lewis ) Hutchins has cited the "winds of change" that are blowing across the country principally resulting from Senator Barack Obama's presidential bid. Hutchins claims that Lewis' "political indebtedness" to Bill and Hillary Clinton and his disconnectedness from the pulse of his constituents, who voted overwhelmingly for Obama in the presidential primary despite Lewis' obstinate support of Clinton's White House bid, was the mitigating factor that swayed his decision to challenge Lewis. However, Hutchins maintains that his primary reason for challenging Lewis is the 22-year incumbent's propensity for lending his name and iconic status to special interests and their causes around the country rather than focusing on the acute needs of his own congressional district. Specific examples of this dereliction of duty include Lewis' failure to secure resources for his district's massive infrastructure needs.

In a January 28, 2008 article, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution noted that in the midst of Atlanta’s critical sewer and water pipe crisis, "In the $555 billion spending bill that President Bush signed last month, Georgia received just $1.6 million in federal "earmarks" from a fund that helps local governments improve sewer systems and replace aging water pipes. An analysis shows that 33 states received more funding, including far smaller ones such as West Virginia, Indiana and Kentucky."

Hutchins finished second in the three way race for the Democratic Party nomination for Georgia's fifth district Congressional seat to John Lewis.

Personal
"Rev. Markel," as he refers to himself, was born in Decatur, Georgia, and is the youngest of three children. Hutchins is a product of DeKalb County, Georgia schools and a 1995 graduate of Stone Mountain High School. While in high school, Markel was the co-captain of the basketball team and led the school choir. He was the first African American to serve as president of the student government/council in the ninety-year history of the school. Upon graduation, Hutchins enrolled in Morehouse College where he was active in local civil rights causes and volunteered with Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney, Congressman John Lewis, and several other political campaigns.

Most recently, he has stepped down from his post as CEO of the National Youth Connection. In 2007, Hutchins accused Andrew Young of using his status as a civil rights leader to defend the business practices of Wal-Mart.