Growing up in south Philadelphia, Charles Fluellen was exposed to different cultures from an early age.

Living above his uncle’s barber shop, Fluellen was neighbors with a Jewish business owner, an Italian bar and grill and was related to a Muslim and an Israelite.

He learned quickly that tolerance of different cultures would help him develop relationships and help him embrace the diversity of others.

“That diversity is what makes me who I am,” Fluellen said as he quickly sketches a picture of his old neighborhood. “That’s the diversity of who we are.”

He leans back in his chair at his desk in his office at the Bartow County Transit Department and smiles.

There is a nostalgic tone to Fluellen’s musings of his past and the classic jazz music that is playing softly from a radio on his desk adds to the story.

The head of Bartow County’s transit department grew up in a single family household with five siblings, but he credits God and a hardworking mother with molding him into the man he has become.

“I know who I am,” Fluellen said.

In addition to his duties as director of the Bartow County Transit Department Fluellen also is pastor of Glory Harvester Church in Cartersville.

It’s a role that Fluellen said allows him to minister to others and reach them in ways different from most conventional ministers.

“When I became pastor I said, ‘God I will do this if you allow me to be me,’” Fluellen said.

Whether it is through Bible study at the Hope House or counseling at the Bartow County Jail, Fluellen said he has a heart for helping people from all walks of life.

“If God can create all these people and none of us has the same fingerprint, then we are indeed diverse and we need to celebrate that,” Fluellen said.

When he moved to Georgia in 1987, Fluellen said he had to adjust and change his perception of what he had previously believed about Southerners.

He credits African American leaders in Bartow County, such as Matthew Hill, Jackey Beavers, Susie Wheeler, Garner Wilkins, Jr. Robert Benham and Nancy Beasley with helping him appreciate his new home.

“Those people taught me things about the South I never knew,” Fluellen said.

Fluellen shies away from taking the mantle as one of this generation’s African American leaders, but he said whatever role God would have him play, he is willing to serve.

“I have to be what God called me to be,” Fluellen said.