After making history as the first woman elected Fulton County District Attorney, Fani Willis has re-entered the spotlight for her investigation into former President Donald Trump.
Fani, who is used to prosecuting high-profile cases, has charged 19 co-defendants, including Donald Trump, in connection with the former president and his supporters’ efforts to overturn the results of the 2020 Georgia presidential election. The move has thrust Fani into the national spotlight, with Donald Trump himself criticizing her, repeatedly calling her “fake,” “racist,” and more. Meanwhile, some people are still questioning the basics of the internet-famous prosecutor. So, in this article, we’ll discuss Fani Willis’ parents.
Who are Fani Willis’ parents?
Fani Taifa Willis’s name is actually “Fani (fah-nee)”. Taifa is her middle name, and her last name is Willis. Speaking of which, she has said that her father was a Black Panther and, being very Afrocentric in turn, decided to go with a Swahili name. Fani likes to share with people that Fani means “prosperous” and Taifa means “people”.
So, Fani’s father always took care of raising her to become the person she is today.
Speaking of Fani’s mother, Fani doesn’t spend much time with her.
Meet John Clifford Floyd, Fani Willis’ father
Fani’s father, John C Floyd, also known as John Clifford Floyd III, was born in October 1943, making him 79 in 2022. The New York Times described him as a longtime civil rights activist and defense attorney. He practiced law while still affiliated with his own firm. John C Floyd III and Associates.
Whereas before, that is, before he went to law school, he was a member of the Black Panthers. And that is something that even his daughter Fani is very proud of. About her father, she also said “My father will tell you that he was arrested so many times that he couldn’t even tell you that…”.
One of the first things Fani says her father repeatedly taught her was that everyone has the right to be respected. And that’s something she’s always tried to pass on. It’s something she hopes to impart not only to her children, and her employees, but to everyone she comes into contact with.
In fact, Fani’s father gave her a job as a file clerk in his office when she was a child.
Meet Delores Floyd, Fani Willis’ mother
There are news outlets that claim Fani Willis’ father raised her in Los Angeles as a single parent. However, there are no details as to when or why Fani’s parents began living separately or whether their marriage ended. It is understood that when Fani was in first grade, her family moved to Washington, D.C.
Delores Trivers Floyd was not Fani’s biological mother, but her stepmother. Long after Fani was born (in 1971), her father married Delores in 1989. Unfortunately, on June 7, 2012, Delores passed away due to complications from a brain tumor.
Related FAQs
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Where are Fani Willis’ parents from?
Fani Willis’ parents appear to be from California, where her mother returned after their divorce.
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How long were Fani Willis’s parents married?
Fani Willis’ parents divorced and her mother eventually moved back to California, while she lived primarily with her father.
She herself has described how she was raised by a “single father” when she was nine years old. And so, while living with him, she studied political science at Howard University, graduating with honors in 1993, then moved to Atlanta to attend Emory University Law School, where she graduated in 1996 with a Juris Doctorate.
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How many children do Fani Willis’s parents have?
Fani Willis appears to be the only child of her biological parents. But she also has half-siblings who appear to be Delores’ children. They are Robert Earl Sumner of Palmdale, California, who turns 61 in the Mayan year 2023, and Julie Monique Sumner of Los Angeles, who turns 51 in October 2022.
Fani herself is also a proud single mother of two grown daughters. Fani has talked about being a single mother for most of her career. She divorced her children’s father in 2005 when the children were very young, four and five years old. As a result, Fani says, her daughters always had a working mother. She always had a couch in her office so they could go there and sleep while she prepared for court.
On the day Fani took the Georgia bar exam, she met Fred Willis, her daughters’ father, who was working as a cameraman on the side. They married in late 1996.
In May 2022, when Fani turned 50, she took to social media to talk about how she had worn as many titles as her weaves up to that point in her life. Of all those titles, i.e. lawyer, counselor, grandma, divorcee, boss, friend, companion, Mrs DA, she said she “had to admit” that her all-time favorite title was “Mom.”
Around the same time, Fani also took to social media to tease and complain about her now-adult daughters giving her a hard time. “Little kids are so much easier than big kids. 😑,” she wrote. A year ago, however, Fani was also happy to see both her daughters doing well in college. One of them, now 24, is studying Journalism at a university.