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RIDGELAND, Miss. – Holmes Community College is proud to welcome alumna Dr. Brinda Fuller Willis as a featured speaker for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) event on Tuesday, Oct. 28 at 12:30 p.m. in the McGowan Workforce Training Center on the Ridgeland Campus. The presentation will also be livestreamed; visit https://library.holmescc.edu/ to watch. Refreshments will be provided by the Holmes Culinary Arts program. The event is free and open to the public.
A member of the Mississippi Humanities Council Speakers Bureau, Dr. Willis will explore the rich cultural, historical, and communal roots of Southern cuisine and its deep connection to African American identity and heritage. Her ties to Holmes make the event especially meaningful.
“I was a student on the Holmes Goodman Campus,” Dr. Willis said. “I served on the yearbook staff, and Mrs. Caruthers taught me how to develop photos. I was among the first students to integrate Holmes in 1971, and everyone was still trying to feel their way. My twin sister Linda and I were roommates, and that made a difference, as did the kind, welcoming instructors.”
Dr. Willis grew up on a large farm in Attala County, just outside of Kosciusko, as the 13th of 14 children.
“We raised everything we ate, and that’s where I learned so much about cooking,” she said. A lifelong member of Palestine Missionary Baptist Church, she graduated from McAdams High School before attending Holmes Junior College in Goodman, where she earned a degree in social science. She went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in social work and a master’s degree in vocational rehabilitation counseling from Mississippi State University, and later earned her Ph.D. in Theology from New Foundations Seminary in Terry in 2007.
After beginning her career in Chicago as a counselor for emotionally disturbed adults, Dr. Willis became involved with the blues community, completing an internship with the Willie Dixon Blues Foundation and working closely with the Dixon family. Her experiences led to a lifetime love of blues culture.
“I’ve always been drawn to the blues,” she said. “I was friends with B.B. King and now serve as an agent for Keith Johnson, the great-nephew of Muddy Waters. I’ll travel anywhere to hear blues music!”
In addition to her work as a writer and speaker, Dr. Willis co-owns Twice as Nice Entertainment, LLC with her identical twin, Linda Walker. Together, they served as managing agents for blues artists, including Johnson, known as the “Prince of the Delta Blues.” The sisters also co-authored an advice column, “Ask the Twins,” which ran for several years in the Jackson Advocate and gained a devoted readership for its thoughtful commentary on a variety of topics.
Currently a freelance writer for the Jackson Advocate, Dr. Willis has also contributed to Our Mississippi Magazine, BOOM Jackson Magazine, Big City Rhythm & Blues Magazine and The Jackson Free Press. She is the recipient of the 2019 Mississippi Humanities Council Educator’s Award and continues to present programs on Mississippi’s cultural heritage, including topics such as “How We Got the Blues,” “The Great Migration” and “Why We Call It Soul Food.”
Reflecting on her journey, Dr. Willis offered this advice to current Holmes students: “Do your best in every class because you never know what you might be doing later on. My great English teachers at Holmes gave me a foundation I still use today.”
Dr. Willis lives in Richland and is the proud mother of one daughter, Savannah, and grandmother to Charlotte Lucile Gray and Liam Moberg. She will return to Holmes for Homecoming on Oct. 23, as she does nearly every year to visit with her former classmates.
For more information, contact the Holmes Ridgeland Campus at (601) 605-3300.
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