Senate Resolution 686
By: Senator James of the 28th
A RESOLUTION
Recognizing and commending Brenda Joyce Davenport; and for other purposes.
WHEREAS, Brenda Joyce Davenport is an outstanding community leader and foot soldier
working for civil and human rights with a long history of nurturing and advocating for the
critical issues facing African American youth and the community; and
WHEREAS, the youngest daughter of Bernard and Dorothy Davenport, Brenda is a lifelong
member of Ebenezer Baptist Church, where she was baptized by Reverend Martin Luther
King, Jr.; and
WHEREAS, she graduated from Booker T. Washington High School, Atlanta's first public
high school for African Americans, and later matriculated at Shaw University in Raleigh,
North Carolina, at age 16; and
WHEREAS, at Shaw University, she participated in several demonstrations with the freedom
fighter and campus organizer Willie Ricks "Mukasa,” and was a proud member of the
esteemed Beta Theta chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc., as well as the Student
Government Association and the UNCF Pre-Alumni Association; and
WHEREAS, Brenda spent an impressive 30 years with the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference (SCLC), taking on several roles to advance causes important to African
Americans, especially children and youth; and
WHEREAS, during her tenure, she established hundreds of youth voter registration
campaigns and youth nonviolence training; and
WHEREAS, Brenda assisted in organizing the National Voter Rights March, the first
reenactment of the Selma to Montgomery March, and has provided countless opportunities
for youth to travel both nationally and internationally to experience historic events,
reenactments, celebrations, marches, and speeches; and
WHEREAS, appointed by Dr. Joseph Lowery, she became the youngest person to serve on
the SCLC's National Board of Directors, where she worked alongside notable Civil Rights
figures such as Representative Walter Fauntroy, Mrs. Rosa Parks, Mrs. Johnnie Carr, Mrs.
Coretta Scott King, Mrs. Evelyn Lowery, and Mr. Dick Gregory, among others; and
WHEREAS, Brenda played a key organizational role alongside SCLC leaders such as Dr.
Joseph Lowery, Rev. E. Randel T. Osburn, Rev. Fred D. Taylor, Frederick Moore, and Ralph
Worrell; was a key organizer of the Gun Buy Back - Stop the Violence Campaigns, which
collected thousands of guns off the streets; and was instrumental in anti-apartheid campaigns
on college campuses during the time of the South Africa Anti-Apartheid Movement; and
WHEREAS, her community outreach expands to civic and religious institutions as the
founder and CEO of the Rosa Parks Consortium, director of the Children's Ministry at the
historic Ebenezer Baptist Church, board member of the A. D. King Foundation, and Atlanta
coordinator for The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute for Self-Development; and
WHEREAS, in recognition of her exemplary leadership and service, Brenda has received
several awards, including those from the TRIO program at Morris Brown College, The King
Center Community Service Award, the Outstanding Leadership Award from the A. D.
Williams King Chapel for Children at the Ebenezer Baptist Church, the Outstanding Women
of America and Operation PUSH, and the Community Service Award from the Atlanta
Alumna Chapter of Bennett College; and
WHEREAS, she was honored by the distinguished Atlanta Chapter of 100 Black Women
with the Unsung Heroine award and was recognized as part of the Georgia Women's
Legislative Caucus Yellow Rose Servant Leader Award; and
WHEREAS, it is abundantly fitting and proper to honor the outstanding accomplishments
of this esteemed Georgian.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE that the members of this body
recognize and commend Brenda Joyce Davenport for her unwavering commitment to civil
rights in the State of Georgia and extend best wishes for her continued health and happiness.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Secretary of the Senate is authorized and directed
to make an appropriate copy of this resolution available for distribution to Brenda Joyce
Davenport.