“Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.”  Congressman John Lewis

For 23 years, the HBCU Coalition of Pitt County – a partnership group of various HBCU alumni organizations – has been sponsoring and hosting a college fair for high school, and even middle school students in Pitt County, seeking to attend a higher learning institution of color. Of course, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the coalition, which invites HBCUs from across the country to participate, was forced this year to hold its first virtual college fair on November 14th. But by all accounts, it was a rousing success.

Ms. Brenda Kornegay-Jones, chairwoman of the coalition’s Social Action Committee, and member of the Shaw University Alumni Association, has been involved with the coalition almost from the beginning, helping to coordinate its community efforts. So, imagine her surprise when she suddenly, and unexpectedly, realized that her colleagues were honoring her with the group’s very first “Good Trouble Award for Dedicated Public Service.”

“I was humbled by this recognition,” Ms. Jones told Greater Diversity News (GDN) recently, quickly adding that she shares the honor with other dedicated members of the coalition, especially President Patti Sanders-Smith.

“She has been right there with me this entire process.”

It should surprise no one that Ms. Sanders-Smith has high praise for Brenda K. Jones as well.

“[She was honored because of…] her dedication and support for our get-out-the-vote efforts,” Ms. Sanders-Smith told GDN.

Sanders-Smith cited “The Seven-City Project,” which identified seven North Carolina cities with historically black colleges and universities where voter registration and mobilization was traditionally low and needed to be addressed with a robust civic engagement effort.

Ms. Jones made sure that Elizabeth City, home of Elizabeth City State University, was part of what originally was a six-city project.

“She was the chairperson of that,” Sanders-Smith says. “We wanted to make sure that everyone in Eastern North Carolina who could vote, was given the opportunity to vote”.

“She singlehandedly took on this task…and arranged several activities for our group to increase voter participation, particularly in Pitt County and Pasquotank County.”

Ms. Sanders-Smith notes that the money Jones earned by leading those efforts, she donated back to the organization. “So, she is the epitome of a community leader,” Sanders-Smith insists.

Ms. Jones is also the person who introduced GDN’s “A Call to Colors” civic engagement student voter registration, education and mobilization program to the coalition in 2018, becoming one of the first civic organizations to embrace the concept. Two years later, the coalition hosted “A Call to Colors” voter mobilization forum in Greenville – co-sponsored by the National Historically Black Colleges and Universities Foundation and NCCU’s Civic Engagement and Advocacy Committee (CEAC) – igniting interest by HBCUs across the state.

“In order to be  an educated voter we must understand what our role is to make sure that each and every eligible voter votes and we must educate them on the issues so they can fully understand if they do not vote how it will not only affect them but the lives of their children and grandchildren,” President Sanders-Smith told GDN at the time.

It was as a result of the forum that Ms. Jones began attending the (civic engagement and advocacy) CEAC meetings, bringing back the information for her coalition and the Shaw Alumni Association.

Since then the HBCU Coalition of Pitt County has been intimately involved with “A Call to Colors” civic engagement program on HBCU campuses, leading into the 2020 elections.

There is no question in Ms. Jones’ mind that student voter registration, and mobilization went up as a result.

“We are not finished,” Ms. Jones vowed in a recent missive. “We are just getting started and have goals to accomplish.”

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