The wonderful ways of Sis Faith!
Well, the truth is that you’ll need ample room to roll over in laughter when she delivers one of her brilliant one-liners or side-splitting bits of humor.
Hold that advice for now.
See, it was a sunlit evening fading into night in Davis Wayne’s Soul Food restaurant in Ootelewah, Tennessee where folks gathered to celebrate Sis Faith’s birthday. And no, I’m sure that she won’t mind my saying that it was birthday number 75 for her because I’m certain that she believes that aging is a fact of life that should be embraced.
But this celebration had somewhat of a different feel to it that I can best describe as a watershed moment for the kind of community that’s longed for, one that seems to be slipping out of our grasp nowadays. So, as I sat scrunched between Sis Faith’s salmon plate and her stepson Adrian’s plate with two huge lambchops, I wondered if I could somehow get a column out this experience.
Sis Faith’s Salmon
Adrian’s lambchop
Well – bingo! — here we are.
With Al Green’s, “For the good times,” softly mellowing the mood, I instinctively knew that this occasion was “cathartic” for lack of a better word. At the center of this special evening was the one and only Sis Faith Edwards. But bear with me as I say more about her background before sharing her answers to some questions I posed during my interview with her a few days later.
Faith Edwards is currently the Executive Editor of the 36-year-old Chattanooga News Chronicle, a position her husband John, the Publisher, had to “sweet talk” (her words, not mine, if you’re reading this John) her into taking.
Prior to that, Faith had a long career at the Public Utility company in Tennessee and served in a variety of positions, among them customer service and leadership training where she honed her skills in working with employees and top management at all levels. Prior to joining the Chronicle, she was an adjunct professor at Chattanooga State University.
Now the interview.
As swiftly as I could, I moved through Sis Faith’s childhood, formal education and her professional career before her career at the Chronicle stopping briefly for several, “wait, tell me more about that,” interruptions.
A common theme that runs through Sis Faith’s life and career was that everywhere she went she was always the only one, or one of a few, African Americans who integrated institutions and organizations that lacked diversity.
Now if you are fortunate for the privilege of listening to her ability to mesmerize like a mighty matador then draw the attentive listener into her story you’ll marvel at the craft of a story telling magician. Her God-given knack for sizing up and reading a room best explains her agility to build relationships and trust in organizations large and small while influencing individuals at all levels.
On the skill side, our “eagle eye” Sis Faith’s attention to detail and relentless expectation for top quality explains why she reads everything – I repeat, everything – that goes into the Chronicle. As bad grammar’s worst enemy, if there’s a comma splice, a necessary semicolon or dangling participle, you name it, she’ll find it, game over. And it’s not unusual for her writers to receive suggested edits highlighted in yellow of their work from Sis Faith well past midnight into the wee hours of the morning.
Let’s go to the interview.
QUESTION: Let’s step back to what you said about having been at the forefront of school integration and navigating racial differences. Say more.
Faith: Sure, I was one of the first African American students who integrated Chattanooga’s Central High School in 1965. We were constantly in the spotlight but that didn’t stop us from achieving. The other experience that comes to mind is that after spending a period of time at largely white Old Dominion University in Virginia, I transferred to largely African American Norfolk State University. So what I developed from those academic experiences was the ability to move from one culture to another which prepared me well for transitioning from one organization to another throughout my career.
QUESTION: What was it like transitioning from a large corporation to a small paper started and operated by your husband?
Faith: Now on the surface, from an outsider it may seem that transitioning from a prior professional life to a life working for the man I married would be rather smooth. However, it was anything but smooth. We both learned that we had different work styles and the difference between working “for” your spouse versus working “with” your spouse. The other thing is that because the Chronicle has always been John’s baby, he ate, slept and breathed the paper 24/7 whereas I needed to set limits on work and home life. Once we worked through all that we set boundaries and things got better.
QUESTION: After 36 years the Chronicle has survived through shifts in the economy, a COVID pandemic, the threat of the internet and the decline in readership in newspapers. However, you’ve managed to survive. Tell us why.
Faith: First, we never wavered from our commitment to producing relevant content for our readers. Second, one of our core values as an African American publication is to maintain a focus on presenting positive images of members of our community. That’s what’s needed to offset a lot of the negative stuff that’s so frequent in the media nowadays. Third, I believe that the local paper still performs the task of holding public officials accountable for behaviors that can either validate or violate the trust of the public.
QUESTION: How do you gauge the impact the Chronicle has on the community?
Faith: That’s a great question and one that I used to think a lot about. But every now and then John or I will run into someone in public who, if they recognize us, will stop and say how much they and scores of others appreciate our paper, particularly because of its quality and positive portrayals of people in our community. That’s all the feedback I need.
QUESTION: Tell us one thing about Faith Edwards that the reader may not know.
Faith: (Pause) Wow, that a good one. As I said earlier, I’ve always been one of the first, or among the first, to integrate schools, a fact was not without its challenges. But I was fortunate to have come from a strong, supportive family with parents who instilled an unshakable sense of confidence that we could overcome any obstacle thrown our way. By the 5th grade I was an avid reader, knew how to speak proper names and use good English. In addition, my mother made sure that we were exposed to others whatever their ethnicity or background, so cultural agility was ingrained in us early.
QUESTION: If you could roll back the clock 30 years ago and provide advice based on what you know now, what advice would you impart for a younger you?
Faith: (Long pause and smile) Humm, I would tell her to spend time with people from all backgrounds and develop a veracious appetite for reading and learning. I’d also tell her that she does not have to say everything that’s on her mind or tell everyone what she is planning to do.
Okay readers, that’s it. I have nothing more to say.
Oh wait, I will say one more thing about Sis Faith. That is having grown up during the era of James Brown, the Supremes, the Temptations, Rock & Roll and Soul Train, unlike yours truly, Sis Faith can still “cut a rug” on the dance floor like few others.
Terry Howard is an award-winning writer, a contributing writer with the Chattanooga News Chronicle, The American Diversity Report, The Douglas County Sentinel, Blackmarket.com, Augusta County Historical Society Bulletin, recipient of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Leadership Award, and third place winner of the Georgia Press Award.
