Georgia Recorder Warnock makes case for minimum wage hike during King Day service Pastor and U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock said during 2021's King Day services that "if folks are essential workers, we ought to pay them an essential wage." Screenshot of King Center livestream Days before he is set to be sworn in as Georgia’s first Black U.S. senator, the Rev. Raphael Warnock drew on the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr. from a pulpit where they both preached to make the case for policies he plans to make a priority once he takes on his new job in Washington, D.C.