DEAD-END ROAD
by
Book Details
About the Book
DEAD-END ROAD may be more aptly
entitled, “Another Brown vs. Board of Education”. This book captures the historical,
educational and political events surrounding Jasper Brown and his struggles to
integrate the public schools in
During the height of the Civil
Rights Movement, Jasper Brown, a God-fearing man, husband, father and community
leader, took a bold stand in pursuit of justice, freedom and equality of
education for his four children and other black children living in
Starting in 1956, jasper, and other freedom lovers, throughout the auspices of the Caswell County Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), initiated desegregation of the Caswell County School System.
After exhausting all
administrative means to integrate the schools, jasper and others filed a
lawsuit and embarked upon a bitter court battle. Six years later, the Federal 4th
Court of Appeals in
On
Although the civil rights movement initiated by jasper and others was successful, Jasper and his family suffered humiliation, degradation, dehumanization, financial loss and even threats on their lives. Yet, through it all, Jasper and his family held fast to their faith and trust in God that His justice would prevail.
About the Author
Deborah F. Jefferson was born in
1950 and raised as a country girl in a small rural setting of
Call it fate, or divine intervention, in 1971, Deborah met, and shortly thereafter, married her husband, Bernard Brown. From the onset of their relationship, Bernard shared with her the trials and tribulations his family experienced when his father, Jasper Brown, sought to integrate the public schools in Caswell County, North Carolina in the late 1950’s and early 1960’s.
Beginning in 1976, the Lord
blessed Bernard and Deborah with three children. Desiring to raise their children away from
the hustle and bustle of city life, the family relocated to
In 1988, Deborah F. Jefferson Brown, a full-time wife, mother, and real estate business owner, decided that it was time, once again, to take a stand. A political novice, Mrs. Brown ran for the District #1 School Board seat and was elected to serve on the Vance County Board of Education. One of the very first decisions she had to make as a School Board Member dealt with the integration of an elementary school in her district.
Mrs. Brown served on the Vance
County Board of Education for 12 years.
It was during her tenure as a School Board Member that she began to more
fully appreciate and understand the role and accomplishments of her father-in-law,
jasper Brown, in desegregating the Public Schools in
Mrs. Brown believes that
education, politics and politicians, play a fundamental role in all our lives
and that there are valuable life lessons to be learned when serving as an
elected official or holding a public office.
It is her hope that by recapturing the historical, educational and
political events surrounding the Jasper Brown civil rights movement, it may
help those aspiring to be tomorrow’s leaders to avoid the pitfalls that could
lead them down a “
In 2000, Mrs. Brown became the first female and the first minority female to be elected to the Vance County Board of Commissioners. Her colleagues elected her to serve as Chairperson of the Board of Commissioners in December 2003.