Meet George Anthony Pratt | Morehouse Alumnus, Marshall Scholar, University of Oxford Graduate Student, Writer & Orator

We had the good fortune of connecting with George Anthony Pratt and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi George Anthony, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
Once I decided I was going to start a business, I wanted to approach it from the perspective that my personal enterprise would emerge as a passion project. I was intentional in thinking about specializing in areas that I was already talented in, which led me to consider the various ways I was already assisting people in my social circle and realm of influence based upon my skills. As a writer, avid public speaker and orator, I knew that speechwriting and speech coaching would be major components of my business. As a researcher and recipient of highly competitive national academic fellowships, I found myself frequently assisting my college peers with essay writing and applications for scholarships, internships, summer and graduate programs at their request. As a result, I knew it would be ideal to add personal statement coaching and essay writing tutoring to my areas of expertise. I also thought about my natural inclination to assist others in goal setting, problem solving, organizational planning, and ability to serve as a transliterator for individuals during their brainstorming processes. Subsequently, I included ideation into my five focus areas. Once I became clear on my business’s areas of specialization: speechwriting, speech coaching, personal statement coaching, essay writing tutoring, and ideation, GeorgeSpeaks was born.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
I believe my artistic aspirations pursued me rather than me pursuing them directly at first. I have always been a writer but did not embrace my creative status until my latter years of college. During undergrad, I blossomed as a scholar and intellectual, publishing my research and academic writings in undergraduate humanities and social science journals. I had considered myself an academic writer not realizing that I was also a creative and journalistic writer. In 2021, I became a contributing writer for the oldest continuous African American periodical, The Christian Recorder, authoring several opinion pieces and was also a staff writer for my college’s newspaper, The Maroon Tiger. It was not until I edited an anthology of short stories, poetry, letters, and art as the Editor-in-Chief of the Howard Thurman Honors Program Jounral Litterātus at Morehouse that I truly embraced my gift as a creative writer. Included in this edition is my first ever published creative literary composition that is a letter to my ancestral mothers. Family, friends, colleagues, and professors commented on how moving the piece was, some saying they were brought to tears. I then arrived at the actualization that the spoken word was not the only method I could use to transform lives and communicate powerful messages, but also the written word. This actualization was affirmed by both an elder and colleague. During a summer research program at the University of California, Irvine in 2022, a comrade and friend told me that I had been endowed with the power to “weave words together like magic.” A few months later, an elder I met at an academic conference in New Orleans at Tulane University instructed me to write the books I had dreamed of writing. The culmination of these events helped confirm for me that I will continue the rich tradition of storytelling as a literary griot with my artistic home-space being religio-spiritual and mystical narrative as a folk writer and novelist. Currently, I am working on my first two books, one being a collection of meditations, prayers, and psalms for mystics and seekers; and the other a novella focusing on themes of blackness, boyhood, and becoming.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love Atlanta for its southern big-city charm, culture, and cuisine. As a young adult, being “outside” in ATL is full of joy, delight, and pure adventure. My ideal itinerary would consist of taking a walk on the belt line, then detouring to stroll through Freedom Park and lunch at Victory Sandwich Bar for cocktails and the city’s most affordable savory sandwiches. While in Atlanta, one has to explore Little Five Points to bask in its eclectic glory. My favorite shops are Luxor Couture for African attire, oils, and beads; and The Honey Pot Art and Energy for my spiritual necessities: candles, sage, palo santo, and Florida water. When in the mood for greenery and the outdoors, riding a scooter through Piedmont Park and visiting Atlanta Botanical Garden are must do’s. For a day of art and history, I would visit the High Museum and National Center for Civil and Human Rights. As a foodie, two of my favorite restaurants in the city are Surin of Thailand and Sweet Auburn Barbecue. One of my favorite past times is driving around the West End, windows down and music blastin, vibin to Goodie Mob and OutKast while looking at the historic architecture and cultural landmarks of the neighborhood. Stops would include the Hammonds House Museum and Shrine of the Black Madonna. The final destination would be Bakaris Plant-Based Pizza for drinks and vegan pizza over conscious conversation.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
During my matriculation at Morehouse College, I experienced exponential growth and personal transformation. I became the institution’s 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Scholar and the 2022 English Speaking-Union Luard Morse Scholar, which allowed me to study abroad in the United Kingdom at the University of Manchester for a semester. Additionally, I graduated Morehouse as a co-Valedictorian of my class and won the prestigious Marshall scholarship to pursue graduate study at the University of Oxford. My academic and professional success would not be possible without the counsel, encouragement, and support I received from my village of elders and mentors that consist of Morehouse and Spelman professors. I am forever grateful to the Reverend Dean Lawrence Edward Carter Sr, PhD and Drs. Alison D. Ligon, Frederick Knight, Leah Creque, Gloria Wade Gayles, and Cynthia Neal Spence for their second sight and seeing in me what I did not see in myself. I seek to honor them in my intellectual witness, scholarship, and teaching.

Website: https://linktr.ee/georgeanthonypratt

Instagram: King_gap

Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/in/george-anthony-pratt

Facebook: George Anthony Pratt

Image Credits
David Collins Paras Griffin