SOUTHFIELD, Mich. (WXYZ) — Brenda Lawrence is excited about life after serving eight years as Representative of Michigan's 14th Congressional District, but retirement does not mean she has plans to slow down very much, and don't be surprised if you see her back in Washington.
"I really want to be in a place where I can influence policy," Lawrence told 7 Action News. "I want to serve on some boards. I want to guest lecture at some universities."
And she plans to write a book called The Little Black Girl from the East Side of Detroit Who Had the Audacity to run for Congress."
Lawrence has been a lot of firsts in her life, including the first Black mayor of Southfield and the first woman to lead the Oakland County city.
"Right now in this country, we need more public servants and less politicians," she said. "The thing that I fear the most is this wave of supporting things that are not true. I was raised that, Brenda, there's only one truth, the rest are lies."
After the last election, Lawrence said it was like a sigh of relief. "There are still people in this country who say, 'I want a democracy. I want dignity and respect. I want statesmen and stateswomen. I want to see the public discourse without violence.'"
Family love & foster children
Lawrence cherishes family bond. Her mother died when she was just 3 years old, but, still, she always knew love in her tight knit-family where she was raised by her father and grandparents.
"I was so loved, from my grandparents and my dad, and even my surrounding family. When it was time for me to go to college, my family was not wealthy, everybody was given the task of contributing $100 so I could go to University of Detroit," she said. "And they got their money together because they were determined that Lena's baby girl was going to go to college."
"I've always been with family," she said. And she's keenly aware of the importance of supporting foster children.
Lawrence's husband was a foster child and after the two married young, she helped raise his younger brothers.
The congresswoman also welcomes foster children in Washington as interns.
"Foster children are a ward of the court by nothing they did wrong. It's our responsibility to take care of them. And I can tell you, I'm so disappointed that we don't do a better job."
Lawrence recalls a conversation with a 19-year-old intern who had been in 20 foster homes.
"She said, 'Congresswoman, I've been through more in my childhood than most adults go through in a lifetime, but I survived.' She said, 'I've seen other foster children commit suicide or threaten to do it.. I've run away.. I thought about suicide but I survived.' And she said, 'Do you know that once I graduated from high school, my foster parents told me to get out because the money stopped.'"
The intern went on to describe having to "sofa surf" until she was able to go to college and how the foster care system mandates medical care but nothing for the mental health of children who have often been traumatized by the events leading up to them being placed in foster care and while in foster care.
"She said, 'Why don't you mandate mental health? Just like you send me to medical, why don't you mandate mental health?' And that's a bill that I introduced and I'm so proud of that bill because we should mandate mental health for our foster children. They are children trying to survive."
January 6
"The police said, 'They're headed our way.' And I'm like who the heck is headed our way? Who cares? And then to hear the pounding on the door where they're trying to break through. Those sounds I don't think I'll ever erase," the congresswoman said of the events that unfolded on January 6, 2021.
"I tell people, you cannot give up on our freedoms and our rights and all these things that we get being citizens of these United States of America. It's fragile. If we didn't learn anything else, on January 6, it is fragile. And we have to show up every day to protect it. And in my case, fight for it."
'I didn't give up'
After serving as Southfield's mayor for 14 years, Lawrence decided to run for the United States House of Representatives. And she'll be the first to tell you that the road to Washington wasn't easy.
"I didn't when the first time I ran for Congress, and that was hard. It was it's public failure. You know, it's one thing to to have a failure and no one knows about it but when it's public? And you fight so hard? If you really want this thing, you you need leaving nothing on the table. And I didn't give up. I didn't give up." said Lawrence, if you believe in something, and you want to do it, and you feel you have the ability, keep fighting for it.
Democracy works
"As a woman in this country, there was a time she (America) did not protect me. She did not give me rights and freedoms, but this thing that we call a democracy, it allowed the people to rise up. And that's why I say we're evolving constantly because there was a time women, they don't need to work, they don't need to have rights. At times, we couldn't even vote. And this thing called a democracy worked."
"As a Black person in America, I was enslaved. I was denied education. I was beaten, all the horrors. l was not allowed to work, own a house. There are still deeds in this area that said no blacks, and no Jews can buy this property."
"You have to carry all have that history. You have to carry all of the hurt and all that was not right.. and fight for a more perfect union," Lawrence said. "And that's what's kept me going for 30 years."
Lasting legacy
The congresswoman recalls something an older member of the community shared with her recently. "She said, Brenda, I'm so sad to see you retire. I'm so proud of you, but the one thing I want you to know that I love more than anything, you never embarrassed us. You stood there, you use your voice, you fought for us, but you never embarrassed us and we felt we could count on you to speak up.
"I say to young women, especially young Black women, oftentimes you will be dismissed. You may not be invited to sit at the table. You may not be considered, in their mind, worthy. You have to really do the self analysis. And if you're not able to do work for the greater good and let go of self, this is not your gig because this thing that we call our democracy, and this thing that we call politics, is brutal. But it's so worth it."
Lawrence said she is thankful for the trust people have placed in her.
"I've been involved in over 12 elections and to have the support and the faith of the people. I believe that this thing called democracy and one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. It has been a heck of a journey, and I'm proud of my legacy."
