Edwards Family Empowerment

 

1. The Edwards Family and the Edwards Family Empowerment has been featured in several family reunion articles for the year 2025. Check out our first article, written by Bill Vargus. Our Edwards Family Empowerment Founder, Renardo Edwards, won a contest to have his 2023 Family Reunion featured in the magazine.  Renardo was the President of the 2023 Edwards Family Reunion in Memphis Tennessee. You can find the article at  Meet the Edwards Family  or https://nationalfamilyreunioninstitute.net/meet-the-edwards-family or https:nationalfamilyreunioninstitute.net. The article was written in May of 2025. 2.The Edwards Family Empowerment assisted with the research and development of the Family History Book for the Cunningham Reunion. We assisted with collecting oral history interviews and wrote an article that was featured in the June issue of Reunions Magazine: Vol 34 No 2 Magazine pages 30-31, which can be found at  Reunions Magazine - Family, class, military reunion planni...

  There are two types of life insurance, Term and Permanent.  Three types of permanent insurance are Whole Life, Universal Life, and Variable Universal Life.   The recommended type of insurance is Term Life Insurance.  You pay what is called a premium for the insurance policy that you select.  When you choose the Term Life Policy, you receive more value from the premiums you pay than with Permanent Life Insurance Policy. With a Term Life Policy, you can lock in a premium from anywhere between 1 to 30 years depending on the policy. The only thing you must remember is that your premium can increase when it is time to renew it. It is typically recommended that you obtain coverage when you are younger, and lock in an affordable rate at that time. The older you are, the higher the premiums are. Whole Life is a popular form of Permanent Insurance, that Dave Ramsey does not recommend. It is sold as a cash value policy. This means that as you pay your premiums the ...

Jesse Edwards The Southern Migrant By Renardo Edwards There are people whom are a living history and a bridge from the past to the present and one of those people is our very own Family Patriarch, Jesse Edwards. Jesse is the third child of Cora and Thomas Edwards he was born on December 21 1941 in Potter Station, Alabama. Jesse early childhood was one of a happy child even though he was raised in the Jim Crow south. Family was very important in those days much of one’s socialization and education was formed in a tight knit family village, listening to him reminisce how they all live and work together was something of amazement and wonder. Gone are those days. Jesse has an injured shoulder sadly an injury he had involving my dad and cousin Mary, to think that he fell off a wagon and suffered and injury that bad but he refused to tell his parents to get better medical help, this showed me the toughness this man had even as a little child.  1940’s Alabama was a different time this was...

  Your first step should be to get a will.  There are websites you can visit to obtain a will for a fee.  Another option is www.freewill.com.  This website allows you to draft a simple will for free.  You can take the will to a notary (located at banks, libraries, or, if you are in the military, a legal office). If you use the freewill.com website, remember that you need to have it notarized and signed by several witnesses before it can be considered legal.  Your next step should be to get term life insurance. There are several types of life insurance. I will discuss the other types in the next article and why you should avoid them. A lot of people have insurance from their jobs. Having insurance while you are working at your job is a good thing. Many companies offer very affordable insurance policies. However, you should not rely on their insurance alone.  You need your own personal insurance policy, so that in the event that you are offered another j...

People always ask me, “Why non-profits?” My answer: Don’t let the non in non-profits fool you. All the money in the world is tied up in Non-profits. Any cooperation you can name has a 501 (C)(3), a non-profit status attached to it. Non-profits will never go broke. There will always be money and resources for the poor. Being currently employed by Alabama Community College Systems at Calhoun Community College as a Career Advisor and prior employment at Concordia College Alabama as an Academic Advisor has afforded me the opportunity to have more tools in my tool box. My area of expertise consist of:  • Career Advising (Your Interest can be your income) • Career Exploration • Resume reviews and resume writing • College entry resume  • Mock Interview • Academic Advisor • “What Can I do with my Major” • Networking • Changing Careers • Learning Disabilities and resources So, if you are thinking about a higher education, go for it! You are never too old.  Just...

Selma AIR allowed my mother to do that for me. Momma never drove, so she had someone to pick us up to take me “us” to work and to pick us up after work. When I felt good enough to get out into the communities (8 counties in very rural parts of the Black Belt of Alabama) to educate, test and get those infected into care.  Mom got me my first cell phone which I still have the number for until this very day to stay in touch with me while on the road.  I stayed with Selma AIR for almost 12 years. One day when Selma AIR was being audited, AIDS Alabama stopped the auditing process, and asked to interview me for a career opportunity with AIDS Alabama working from the top of the state to the bottom because of my outstanding work at Selma AIR. I accepted the offer to move to Birmingham, Alabama to work at AIDS Alabama. I decided on my last day with Selma AIR not to go to Birmingham due to the gang activity in the city.  I was not willing to take a chance on losing my son to gang v...

As soon as I received the degree in my hand, I asked myself, “What can I do with this degree? My answer to self, “Not anything”. While my mother was the only one who was proud of me and my accomplishment. I felt unaccomplished.  All that went through my head that day, May 12, 1999 was this degree means nothing. I wanted more, but struggled with math. I always thought of myself becoming a Social Worker. I looked for the best way to become a Social Worker without going through anymore math. By this time, I’m feeling as though I’m at least 15 years behind.  Once again, printed in the Selma Times Journal was an announcement about Faulkner University holding classes to earn a BS degree in Management of Human Resources in one year. I’m like close enough to Social Work for me. I enrolled in that rigorous one year program. While in the program, I landed a job, contingent upon earning my degree, at Selma AIDS Information and Referral Services as the HIV / AIDS Education Coordinator and...

I was born without a fully developed right hip. During my recovery process from “Bone Displeasure surgery” I attended Selma University, a couple of doors down from our home house for a semester or two before transferring.  Our family was members of Ward Chapel A.M.E Church where higher education was promoted. I decided to attend one of our church's schools, Paul Quinn College in Waco, Texas, Dear old Paul Quinn. I survived two years there, because again, I didn’t have a plan for college, plus I was very homesick and wanted to be with my momma because she was home in Selma alone.  I could not bear the thoughts of my momma at home by herself, plus I felt a sense of safety when I was with or around my mother. Maybe it was because my mother was my biggest and greatest supporter ever. It was my mother that pushed me towards greatness even when I didn’t see my way through. One thing my mother taught us all, (sisters and brothers) was to be the best at whatever we did, and I must say...

Felicia Gill, mother of one son, Lawrence and his wife Kraneisha, two grandsons, Lawrence Jr., Andrew, and one on the way. Unlike the other family members that have presented their careers, my career is what I refer to as “Planned Happenstance”. Being a fighter since birth, I have had to persevere my way through, making something from nothing. I am grateful for this opportunity to share with the family my career path, and how I got where I am today, by Happenstance.   Currently, I serve as Career Advisor at Calhoun Community College- Decatur campus. As some may already know, I served as an Academic Advisor and Director of the Rosa J. Young Center for Women at Concordia College Alabama, as well as served as a representative for Concordia in various capacities. This however was not a career path I chose. The career path chose me.  I want to refrain from saying I was a late bloomer, but rather choose to think that I had to get to the place where I stumbled upon my purpose. M...

  When you die without a will, you are said to have died, "intestate".  Can you recall anyone wealthy who may have died without having a will to let the world know how that person wanted their earthly possessions to be handled?  Aretha Franklin, Prince, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse, and more celebrities have died intestate.  This is why estate planning is so important. it allows you to provide for your loved ones when you eventually pass on. Think about the state you're currently living in.  Do you trust your state to make decisions for you while you are living?  What happens if you don't have a will, is that the state will make decisions for your loved ones about whatever you leave behind. Impersonal, untailored decisions is what you can expect to be made, at a time when it is most convenient for them. This means when they have time in court to hear whatever situation you have left behind and then the time it will take to resolve it. 

  No man knows the day, nor the hour that they will pass from this mortal realm, but we do know that pass from it we will.  With this knowledge in hand, we need to start preparing the legacy we will leave behind for our kids.  We do this through estate planning.  What is estate planning?  Chris Hogan explains it this way: "A method of creating a plan that manages wealth while you are alive and distributes wealth after you die." The purpose of having an estate is to leave a legacy for your loved ones. It is your way of helping them after you have passed through the veil. You've already done the best you can to teach, love, and empower your loved ones. Legacy is not just about money, but peace of mind for you that your loved ones will continue on empowered and prepared to face the world with the tools that you have given them.

Why I chose the US Army as a career? Twenty-five years later the answer is one of a life changing experience, it is one of looking back and counting your blessings because in and of yourself it can be hard making a career in the US Army. I was born in Mobile Alabama and raised in Irvington Alabama where I attended Alba High School and graduated with honors. I attended Alabama State University (ASU) on a Tuition Scholarship and at ASU is where I met my future husband Renardo Edwards after two years at ASU.  We both transferred to University of Alabama in Birmingham. Moving to Birmingham was both a blessing and a curse. We were stable and all, and, we had our first child there, but it always seemed in our present condition there was only so high you can go in Birmingham.   That's when I decided I had to get out of this place. I begin researching the opportunities that are provided by the military. I contacted a recruiter and he had me take the ASVAB where I scored a 125 whi...