Who exactly is Julia Pearce? Pearce was born in Pittsburgh and came to Georgia after High School to attend Spelman College class 84’ and Georgia Perimeter University in Atlanta. Before moving to Tybee Island, Julia Pearce worked at Grady Hospital in Atlanta, Tidelands and Gateway Community Service Boards, Curtis V. Cooper Primary Health System, Coastal Harbor Behavioral Health, Savannah, Georgia, and Tybee Island Nursing Home. She is a retired Registered Nurse with 35 years of running and working in medical, behavioral, drug, and alcohol facilities, and DUI/ Coping Skills counselor. Pearce enjoys traveling, working with TybeeMLK, and living out her golden years on Tybee Island with her husband, Artist, Author, environmentalist, and ex-City Councilman Mallory Pearce. She is also a member of All Saints Episcopal Church on Tybee Island.
Since her retirement, Julia Pearce took a deep dive into the history of Tybee Island and its role in slavery. Shortly after that, Pearce became a Community Activist, Co-Founder, and Provost of TybeeMLK Human Rights Organization. TybeeMLK specifically addresses issues of community, social, and economic justice affecting residential life, historical markers, and inclusive socialization on Tybee Island. One of their missions is to educate and provide cultural enrichment on Tybee Island. TybeeMLK hosts the following cultural programming events on the Island and invites the citizens of Savannah to; Indigenous People’s Day, Zwanzaa, Dr. King Federal Holiday-Human Rights Program, Lazaretto Day, and Juneteenth Wade In.
After living on the Island for 26 years, Julia Pearce has witnessed enormous changes in the community and is now officially running for Mayor of Tybee Island. She believes her counseling ability to hear both sides of an issue and bring people together for dialogue would make her an excellent Mayor. Tybee Island city’s government with the Leadership of TybeeMLK Human Rights Organization has made some remarkable progress towards social justice and inclusion and Julia Pearce wants to see that work continue. Her next focus is public transportation to Tybee. She believes that there should be public transportation to Tybee and a public swimming pool on Tybee because it is the Beach of Savannah and all people should have open access to the beach. If anyone is willing to help Julia Pearce’s fund for the Mayor of Tybee Island you may donate to her cash app at $Ebonyhag. To confirm the cash tag, there will be a photo of Julia Pearce in Red African head wrap.