Ennis Fant: Pastor and Community Activist
Community involvement and fighting racial and social injustice is a way of life for Ennis Fant. A native of Greenville, South Carolina, he is all too familiar with the importance of taking an active role in the struggle against discrimination, based on racial inequalities delved out by insensitive and narrow minded political figures. As a County Council member, he was instrumental in introducing the Martin Luther King Holiday as a national and celebrated occasion in the Greenville Community, in October 1986. Although this act was defeated, it at least became the springboard for catapulting this Holiday as a meaningful part of the County Council's agenda, and the fight toward the MLK honor continued up until this present time.
From 1988 to 1991, Fant served as a South Carolina House of Representative. He authored the South Carolina Public Accommodation Act, prohibiting discrimination based on race when it comes to public accommodations. From 1996 to 2000 he was President of the Greenville Chapter of the NAACP, and was appointed to serve on the Citizens Advisory Committee in Greenville County.
Project Genesis is the brainchild of Fant. The word Genesis means "New Beginning." The thrust of Project Genesis is to recruit moderate candidates who are sensitive to the needs and views of all people in the community. The goal is to eliminate those right wing candidates that hold on to old and out dated opinions that are dead and unconstitutional. At a time when it was most critical, 107 JAMZ became a viable vehicle to the success of making this process a reality. Fant does not hesitate when it comes to giving 107 JAMZ recognition for urging the 18 to 40 year old group to get out and vote, and direct mail for motivating the 45 to 80 year old group to vote. The success of Project Genesis was a major stepping stone for the Greenville County area.
Ever the visionary, Fant is part of an organization called Board of Favor, also known as Faces and Voices. This is an effort to institute an Alcohol and Drug rehabilitation treatment facility. The problem of Alcohol and Drugs affects everyone from all walks of life. Fant is determined to address this problem, and works diligently toward making this treatment center a reality.
Called to the ministry in February 1988, Fant is the Pastor of Pleasant View Baptist Church in Powdersville, South Carolina. He has been in ministry with this church for 16 years. He is known there for having what is called Out of the Box services. These type of services are in place to help young adults with tough spiritual issues such as How to be Single, Sexy, and Saved, How to Affair Proof Your Marriage, the Church's Response to Homosexuality, and being Married, Divorced and Remarrying. It is the church's obligation to bring people to a full understanding of what the word of God has to say about how Christians should conduct their lives.
The message Fant wants to communicate to the African American community and the community of all ethnic groups is, "Go back and grab hold of the institution that sustained us. We seem to think that we have arrived, but we are still in the delivery process. There needs to be a connection, a basis, and a foundation on which to build." Fant is serious when it comes to making a difference in the community and the lives of others.
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