Breaking standards Military officer recounts her experiences as a Black female overcoming racial misconceptions and lives a life of service Story by Safia Ahmed Photos by Gary Kohatsu, Greg Fontanilla and Safia Ahmed
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ntering the military as an older person, she wanted to do something for her country. In 2001, she was given the opportunity to assist the state following the 9/11 terrorist attack. She designed a commemorative license plate in honor of the victims and survivors, which has raised about $15 million in California to support anti-terrorism. Major Brenda Threatt serves as an assistant director of Veterans Services at El Camino College. She is also a military officer, chaplain and ordained minister at the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Los Angeles. There are very few Black female chaplains, she says. “It’s easier for people to stereotype than it is to learn about another person and accept them. That’s not just for veterans. It’s how society is with a lot of groups,” Threatt says. Much of Threatt’s career has been in the veterans’ space. Her role at ECC requires her to manage the center and staff that supports the educational goals of student veterans. Veterans Services identifies resources that provide veterans with career opportunities, housing and support. Previously, she worked with homeless veterans in an organization she ran that housed nearly 400 veterans in need of housing. “The way to prevent homelessness is to give someone the opportunity to have an education and career,” Threatt says. “So in my scheme of working with veterans, this is where you stop veteran homelessness at this stage.” One of the greatest challenges she has faced at ECC was bridging the gaps between the veterans department and other departments. With Veterans Services, the overall leadership of El Camino has created a space of equity, diversity and inclusion. “A challenge was helping people to understand and learn who the veteran student is,” Threatt says. “We’re not always going to get it right, but because the leadership is the tuning work, that keeps the
6 | Warrior Life
rhythm going.” Threatt has worked at churches, nonprofit organizations and in city government. She began working as a veteran liaison for then Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa in 2008 and was asked to join the California State Guard as a chaplain. “I started speaking on the things that civilians and people can do to support their communities,” she says. One of the primary roles of a chaplain is to provide casualty notifications. “It’s when a soldier dies and we notify the family it was a casualty,” Threatt says. “When a military person dies, the department of defense has four hours after the confirmation of death to notify their next of kin.” Another big job Threatt has as a chaplain is suicide prevention.
“Every single moment we have to give, we have to be thinking about what we can do this day to have a good day and to help someone else have a good day.” - Major Brenda Threatt
“I would go to hospitals if there was an attempted suicide, to minister to the victim,” she says. “I still do suicide prevention training. People always look at ministry people differently, especially in the military. Getting soldiers to understand that you can be trusted and that you are not judging them, and I think that’s just with people in general. They think clergy is like we’re flying around pointing fingers.” Her role in that field requires her to provide