BLM CD10 HEROES: WILLIS EDWARDS, LEO BRANTON JR

WILLIS EDWARDS 1946 - 2012

REGINA JONES

Originally Printed in July 2012 Issue #25

At age 66 and on Friday, July 13, 2012, Willis Edwards succumbed to cancer. Willis was a celebrated force as a civil rights and political activist, once heading the Beverly Hills-Hollywood branch of theNAACP and shaking things up when he ran the NAACP image awards. Regina Jones, a long time resident of Country Club Park, worked alongside Willis on the Image Awards and shares her strong and affectionate memories of his effect on her life, the lives of those he loved and the causes he cared about.

Willis Edwards with Ethel Bradley

It’s hard to remember when I did not know Willis

Edwards. Quite possibly my first awareness of Willis was the early 70s when he was lobbying for the right to vote for 18-year-olds. Next he was everywhere working on Tom Bradley’s mayoral campaign. Once Mayor Bradley was in office, my husband, Ken and I would run into Willis at every media or entertainment event we attended, most often with Los Angeles’ first lady, Ethel Bradley holding his arm.

Since his passing, everyone I speak with has a story about how Willis helped them. My next-door neighbor told me:

“Willis got my daughter into student housing at USC.”

My cousin shared: “He got me involved in civil rights

while I was attending Cal State LA.”

When my life turned upside down - my mother died, my business failed and my 20-year marriage came to an end - I went underground. Every week Willis would call and leave a message on my answering machine, “I know you’re

there. You don’t have to answer but I want you to know I

love you.” He kept calling until I answered.

For three years Willis asked me to handle publicity for the NAACP Image Awards. When I finally agreed, the media area had outgrown the lobby of the Wiltern Theatre. The new pressroom was the Atlas Restaurant next door. I told Willis that I didn’t know how to set up a live feed and he said he’d get someone to assist me. A few days later a man introduced himself as being sent by Willis, while handing me his card that read “White House Media Core.”

It came as no surprise at the 1987 Image Awards nominees press conference when Willis, president of the Beverly

Hills-Hollywood chapter of the National Association

for the Advancement of Colored People announced, “The

NAACP will not nominate a black actress for this year’s

Image Awards,” adding that there was a “…disconcerting

lack of balance in the roles available to black women. Beyond the realm of comedic feature films, roles for black women do not seem to exist.”

The same year he spearheaded a full-time monitoring of the entertainment industry’s employment practices of black technicians and other employees.

Resigning as President of the Beverly Hills-Hollywood Branch of the NAACP was a hard decision for Willis. He did so with incredible grace and integrity. His written resignation in the Image Awards program came as a shock to almost everyone as the lights dimmed, the doors closed and the taping of the 1990 show began. I often wonder if my advice that he do so was correct.

Continued on Pg. 20

LEO BRANTON JR. 1922 - 2013

RENEE MONTGOMERY

Originally Printed in Feb 2016 Issue # 46

PHOTO BY RENEE MONTGOMERY

Leo Branton Jr. was a civil rights and entertainment lawyer who championed the underdog and lived in Lafayette Square. He was also father to Tony Nicholas who ran the now defunct Tom Bradley Youth and Family Center on Pico. Leo was 91 and died April 19, 2013 in Los Angeles. We reprint the article we wrote about him in our Aug 2013 issue.

Visiting with Lafayette Square

resident Leo Branton feels like time travel through landmarks of 20th century history. Branton, a famous civil rights attorney, served as defense counsel to Angela Davis, Hollywood blacklisted Dalton Trumbo, several Black Panthers, and innocent men arrested in the Watts Riots.

Branton was also one of the first AfricanAmerican attorneys to provide legal representation to entertainers, including

Dorothy Dandridge, Nat King Cole,

Miles Davis, and Jimi Hendrix (until he fired the last performer for lack of cooperation, that is). Local residents may also know Branton as host to Rosa Parks each winter in his home for the decade preceding her death.

Branton explains he had his first experience with discrimination when arrested as a teenager after he fought back when a store clerk struck him in his native Arkansas – a case later dismissed by a judge. Yet it was the acting bug that inspired Branton to study law at Northwestern, after traveling with a repertory company and military service. The tireless attorney who has won numerous distinctions and is a sought-after speaker, was one of the first to hire a consultant to psychologically profile juries and to demand fairer diversity of juries. Other legal distinctions include winning cases upon appeal at the U.S. Supreme Court level. His persuasive closing argument in the case of People v. Angela Davis (where he served as Chief Counsel) is still used for instruction in law schools. Branton is most proud of his 40-year effort to free death row inmate Robert

Wesley Wells.

Although retired for ten years [at the time of the original report], Branton continued to do pro bono work, graciously accepting cases for individuals arrested on bogus charges who could not afford representation on their own. However, despite his 62-year career in civil rights (Branton

was awarded the ACLU’s Lifetime Achievement Award

in 2009), it is his late wife, Geraldine Branton, whom he credits as his greatest inspiration: “When she saw a wrong, she tried to solve it.” He encouraged young black people to take better advantage of the greater opportunities achieved through the civil rights movement. Branton has three sons and grandchildren.