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2016
8
41 Years of Resilience
and Optimism in
the DLS
By Lydia Freeman
“I had become immersed and enamored with government and
history as a college student,” said Edwards. “When I saw the ad, I
thought, hmm, I think I might want to work there.”
Meet Brenda Edwards, the Senior Research Associate for the
Virginia Division of Legislative
Services (DLS). She’s been working for DLS for forty-one years,
leading multiple commissions designated by the Virginia legislation.
Two notable commissions are the Virginia Bicentennial of the
American War of 1812 Commission and the Martin Luther King Jr.
Commission.
“During the commission’s six years, Brenda Edwards served as
it’s dependable, hardworking, full-time staffer,” said Delegate Kirk
Cox on Edwards’ work with the 1812 Commission. “Her positivity
and love of history was without rival. Without Brenda, our programs,
and specifically our signature Legacy Symposium, would not have
been so well organized and received by its attendees. The 1812
Commission was a success in large part due to her.”
Delegate Jennifer McClellan spoke on Edwards’ work with the
MLK Commission.
“Commission chairs and members come and go, but Brenda is
the glue that binds the Commission together and we would be lost
without her tireless efforts,” said McClellan. “I don’t make the
decisions,” Edwards explains, “but I put the guide out there. Tell
them, ‘here are some things you need to think about to meet your
goal. Here are the advantages and the disadvantages.’ Then the group
decides.” Edwards attributes her leadership style to her Jim Crow era
education.
“I grew up during the Jim Crow era,” said Edwards. “When I
went to school, we went to school in shifts. There were no textbooks
to speak of and the ones we had were damaged and part of the story
would be ripped out of the back or the book would be mutilated
sometimes. So what our teachers would do, and we didn’t even know
it at the time, they would tell us to read the book or the story as far
as the pages would allow and then based upon what you had read,
come up with two or three plausible conclusions to the story. Then
we would discuss them in class. The teacher would say, ‘based upon
what you told me or what you’ve read, does that make sense?’ And so
that kind of reasoning was kind of a hallmark or continuation in my
education even from college.”
One of the projects that Edwards guides is the Martin Luther
King Jr. Commission. Edwards has been working with the MLK
Commission since 1992 when it was established by Virginia in
response to federal legislation.
“The commission strives to live up to its statutory responsibility
of continuing King’s work and his legacy in Virginia,” said Edwards.
“They [the commission] work very hard at doing that. And they work
to educate the public about the totality of Dr. King. A lot of people
just see him as a civil rights icon when he was so much more than
that. He was an author, scholar, pastor, theologian, educator, historian,
and he loved history, loved education. It was like he was a man for
all seasons. The commission does a great job of trying to get that
information out and trying to do even more to the fact that he was
more than a civil rights activist.”
One objective of the commission is as follows: “Promote the
legacy and continuation of the work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.,
particularly racial, economic and social justice, academic scholarship,
and community service.”
Edwards loves her work on the commission in part because she
personally encountered racial injustice throughout her upbringing.
She remembers that her school did not have indoor plumbing,
an assembly room, a cafeteria, or school bus transportation. She
remembers the dried fruit skins placed on the potbelly stove in the
classroom in order to deodorize the air. She remembers gathering
outside her school in 1954 as her principal announced the Brown
Supreme Court decision. The moment was so significant that she can
even remember the blue and red plaid dress she was wearing.
Other historic civil rights moments surrounded her early life
experience. Edwards attended the prominent HBCU, [historically
black college or university], Howard University during the Civil
Rights era of the 60s. During this time she was transformed by a
Brenda
Edwards