The Shadow
The 15th annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day Walk of Legacy will be held Sunday, Jan. 19, beginning at 3 p.m.
The march will begin at the former Jeter-Watson school on Pine Street, and proceed down to 415 Alleghany Ave. to Gospel Tabernacle Church of God in Christ where the program will be held.
The keynote speaker will be Dr. Brenda Hale, president of the Roanoke Chapter of the NAACP.
A community potluck dinner will be held following the program.
The Walk of Legacy is sponsored by HOPE, Inc, CAYA, and the McClinton Foundation.
Dr. Brenda Louise Hale is an eight-term president of the Roanoke Branch NAACP.
She attended Chaminade University in Honolulu,?Hawaii, and Roanoke College where she studied psychology. She received her nursing education from Fitzsimmon Army General Hospital and Virginia Western Community College.
She also received an honorary doctorate of humane letters from Bethlehem Bible College in 2010; a doctorate of theology in biblical studies from the Word of Life Theological Seminary in 2013; and an honorary doctorate of humane letters with all rights and privileges from Roanoke College in 2018.
Sergeant First Class (E-7) Hale retired from the Army in 1978. She has since worked with the Salem Veterans Affairs Medical Center as a LPN and RN; the Non-Commissioned Officers Association in Honolulu as a financial counselor; and Primerica Financial Service as a financial representative division leader.
Dr. Hale is a member of Loudon Avenue Christian Church and a Gold Life Member of the NAACP, among several other civic memberships.
She is the senior vice commander of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 1444 in Roanoke, serves as the secretary of the TAP Board of Directors, and also serves on several other boards including Jefferson College of Health Sciences, Roanoke City Rescue Mission, and Local Colors.
Dr. Hale is the first African American elected as secretary for the Virginia State Board of Nursing. She was also listed in Who’s Who in American Nursing 1990-91 and Who’s Who of American Women 1995-96.
In addition, she has received numerous military medals; and has been awarded the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Drum Major for Justice Award from the Roanoke Chapter SCLC; and been named a Paul Harris Fellow by the Rotary Foundation of Rotary International.
She has also received the Black Girls Rock Award from the Continental Societies, Inc. Roanoke Chapter; the Impactors of Excellence Award from the Roanoke NAACP Youth Council; and the UBU Humanitarian Award.
