While many Atlanta families were getting ready for church or preparing Mother’s Day brunch on Sunday, Jimmy Hill stood alone in protest outside one of Atlanta’s fastest-growing houses of worship, 2819 Church.
Located in southwest Atlanta — and boasting 800,000 followers on YouTube and nearly half a million on Instagram — the church went viral last month when founder and lead pastor Philip Anthony Mitchell gave a sermon telling Black parents to stop blaming white cops for killing Black kids.
“Instead, teach your Black children to be obedient towards authority” Mitchell proclaimed.
Hill, who lost his 21-year-old son Jimmy Atchison at the hands of Atlanta police six years ago, said that he was hurt and confused by the pastor’s comments and has tried to get in contact with him after seeing the now-viral video.
“I’m out here because the mothers [who lost children to police violence] have already been through too much, so what better day to be out here than Mother’s Day,” Hill told Capital B. He said he and his son’s mother, Cynthia Atchison, used to protest for justice for their son together until her death in 2022. Hill said she died from a broken heart.
Hill said he decided to protest outside the church because he thinks the rift between the Black church and social justice movements is indicative of a larger problem.
“I don’t know what happened, but the church at one time was the place we could go to and the pastors and the men and women of the church would stand up for civil rights,” Hill said.
During his April 13 sermon, Mitchell urged his congregation to teach Black children to submit to authority.
“I don’t care if most of you are Black. … We need to teach our children not to fight against authority, not to fight against cops,” he said.
The inflammatory statements quickly spread on social media, where commenters criticized Mitchell for seeming to excuse police brutality. Social media commenters also dropped the names of Black people who followed police instructions or were unaware of the police presence when they were killed, like Philando Castile, Tamir Rice, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd.
A week after Mitchell’s comments went viral, he apologized for the framing he used and said his words were being taken out of the larger context of submission to God’s will.
“While not my intention, I recognize I caused harm and for that I sincerely apologize,” Mitchell wrote on Instagram.
For Hill, the apology wasn’t enough. Atchison was unarmed at the time of the shooting and the officer was indicted on charges of murder, aggravated assault, involuntary manslaughter, and violation of oath by a Fulton County grand jury in 2022. A final evidentiary hearing in the case was held last week before the judge decides whether to proceed with trial or dismiss the charges.
“I’m trying to get some type of meeting with him and the families,” Hill said regarding Mitchell.
Representatives from 2819 Church did not respond to Capital B Atlanta’s requests for comment.
As for Hill, the grieving father plans to protest outside other Atlanta megachurches. He hopes to get the attention of pastors he believes are around only for the first few press conferences when Black people are killed by police, but who then disappear when the real fight for justice begins.
