THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, June 2, 1994 TAG: 9406010188
SECTION: NORFOLK COMPASS PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ROBERT GUY MATTHEWS, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: 940602 LENGTH: Long
As his grades began to slip, so did his hopes of becoming a teacher. He turned to alcohol to blot out his failures, and then began shoplifting.
{REST} When he was caught swiping medical supplies at the Farm Fresh on 21st Street last year, he found himself on the other side of General District Court Judge Luther Edmonds' bench.
James counts that as one of his luckiest days. But it wasn't because Edmonds let him go unpunished. On the contrary, James, who asked that his full name not be used, was fined and placed on one year's probation for petit larceny.
James was lucky because Edmonds took time in the middle of a busy court day to explain that he expected more from him. The inspirational speech was enough to get James back on track.
``He was pretty stern but yet he was understanding,'' James recalled. ``He said no matter what type of problems I had, that (shoplifting) wasn't the solution. I got the feeling that he understood but he didn't want me to think that he condoned my actions. He could have done a lot worse - like just sentencing me. . . Instead he talked to me for a long time.''
One year later, James wrote Edmonds a letter asking why the year's probation hadn't been lifted. James said it was preventing him from being able to teach in a local school system.
Immediately, Edmonds called James at his job and said he would take care of it.
``He then told me if I needed any help that I should give him a call. He said if I needed someone to talk to, I should give him a call,'' James said. ``Then he wished me luck with my career.''
It wasn't so much the words but the sincerity and the desire to become a better solution for a student who had a history of not dealing well with problems that sticks in his mind even now, James said.
\ FEW JUDGES TAKE THE TIME to call and offer words of encouragement to the people who appear before them in court. But Edmonds' approach is different because he is different.
By most bets, he was the odds on favorite not to succeed - much less grow up to become the chief General District Court judge in the city.
Social services broke his family up and placed the children in separate foster homes. He weathered a life in countless foster homes in Norfolk and Chesapeake, attended countless schools and spent years in an orphanage in Suffolk.
He never knew he was the 17th of 21 children until he was near adulthood. One day he saw a Journal and Guide, a local historically black newspaper, and realized the teenager pictured was a brother he hadn't seen for years. Edmonds never met his father and had to be introduced to his mother by one of his siblings.
Some people told the shy, withdrawn Edmonds, who didn't experience the luxury of eating three meals a day until he went to college, that he was ignorant and could never succeed. But he did.
``I had my heroes, people I could look to,'' Edmonds, 51, recalled from his small plush office in the General District Court complex. His tall frame leans back in his office chair. Eyes upward and hands always in motion, he recounted stories from his life that make people wince at the brutality and hopelessness but at the same time cheer for his determination and drive.
``My heroes helped me believe that no matter how tall the mountain can be, you can do it. You have to work hard, want it, pray and you can accomplish it. I have lived beyond my goal,'' Edmonds said.
Today, Edmonds is the father of four. His wife, Doris, is an attorney for a local law firm. And he spends his off-duty hours performing community service.
Edmonds won athletic scholarships to three universities but chose Norfolk State University. After graduating, he became a school teacher and an executive director for the local Legal Aid Society for six years.
\ BUT EDMONDS WANTS PEOPLE to see not where he is, but how far he has come.
That way, he said, he can be an inspiration and an example to people - especially African-Americans - who believe they have too much to overcome to succeed.
A peek into Edmonds' philosophy comes out in snippets of stories about the days when he was in foster homes. Once, he asked his foster mother at the time if he could go to a basketball game.
``She responded by hitting me with a frying pan. But once you were over the hurt you had to figure out what you were going to do about it. I wasn't big enough to do anything. No matter how unreasonable these expectations were, you had to just do it,'' Edmonds said.
And every time he looks at the marks on his hands, he remembers how he got them.
``I was jabbed after asking a question (at another foster home). There wasn't anywhere to run. I just had to learn to cope. . . Back then I couldn't see the light (at the end of the tunnel) but I knew that sometime down the road there was going to be some light,'' he said. ``I just had to wait for it and be ready.''
\ FRIENDS AND FAMILY HAVE urged Edmonds to keep silent about his past. They tell him it is better to leave these personal things unsaid. But Edmonds disagrees.
``I know it may offend some people in my family and I have to say that I don't like talking about the past. But if it encourages one person, it's worth it,'' Edmonds said.
Edmonds' life began to turn around when he was in high school. He discovered that he was a good football player. He played in college, graduating in four years. He was only one of two players on the team to graduate on time.
But it was the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 that steered him into the legal field. At the time, Edmonds was in his second year teaching social studies in Southampton County. The event moved him to want to help the disenfranchised so much that he enrolled in Howard University law school the following fall.
In 1977 he left a Washington law firm and returned to Norfolk to begin an 11-year stint at the Tidewater Legal Aid Society.
``I always wanted to return to Norfolk because I felt like I had to give back to this community that had helped me so much,'' Edmonds said.
His goal now is to help young African-American males by providing an example for them.
``They are not taking advantage of what they have. They should rise up . . . not wallow in despair of their circumstance.'' Edmonds said. ``It is disturbing to see young black males not striving to do their best. I wish there was something I could do to help them strive for excellence. The best thing I could do is be a role model and encourage others to do likewise.''
\ ENCOURAGING JAMES TO BE a role model is why Edmonds took the time to talk and call James after his shoplifting charge.
He said that James, who is African-American, has a special role in the community as an aspiring teacher. Because he committed a crime and paid his debt to society, it shouldn't quash his chances for success.
When sitting on the bench, Edmonds remembers his own mistakes, how he ran away and was expelled from school. But after paying for his mistakes, no one continued to hold them against him.
This, he said, is what he tried to do for James. And it seems to be working. James is set to graduate in 1996 with a math, science and human services counselor degree. He hopes to teach middle school.
``I'm not an old man but I have lived the life of an old man. And the experiences that I have gained in life help me be a better judge,'' Edmonds said. ``I was told I would never amount to anything by foster parents and teachers, but here I am.''
by CNB