Terrell Slayton Jr., president of 100 Black Men of Atlanta, public servant, dies

Terrell L. Slayton Jr. president of 100 Black Men of Atlanta and a former Georgia assistant secretary of state, died Saturday after becoming ill at a breakfast connected to the Atlanta Football Classic. He was 61.

Slayton attended several events leading up to this weekend’s Classic, which celebrated its 20th year this weekend and is put on by the 100 Black Men, said past president William “Sonny” Walker.

“He had been working extremely hard to make this weekend a success, and I think he just overworked himself,” Walker said.

Walker said the organization is waiting for information from Slayton’s family on services.

According to a biography posted on Georgia Tech’s Web site where Slayton spoke earlier this year, he was in public service for 30 years, including 10 years as assistant secretary of state.

Slayton, an Alabama native, held several other executive-level positions in state government including assistant commissioner in the Georgia Department of Human Resources. He was the first African-American man to serve as deputy commissioner in the Department of Corrections.

Upon retiring, he started his own lobbying, public affairs, organizational development and training firm, the Slayton Group, the bio said.

In the community, Slayton was actively involved in the United Way of Atlanta, Georgia Legislative Black Caucus Advisory Board, Leadership Atlanta, the Board of Georgia Communities in Schools Inc., the Board of the Morehouse Research Institute and the Minority Advisory Board for the Red Cross.