Rev. Willie Lewis Varnado: A Brave Southern Preacher on a Mission to Empower Black America

By: Donald V. Watkins

Copyrighted and Published on October 31, 2024

Rev. Willie Lewis Varnado

Reverend Willie Lewis Varnado, my maternal grandfather, pastored 19 churches in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama during his 70 years in the Baptist Church ministry.

Rev. Varnado’s pastorates included three historic black churches in Jackson, Mississippi -- Mount Helm, College Hill, and Farish Street Baptist Churches -- and iconic Cummings Street Missionary Baptist Church in Memphis, Tennessee. 

Willie Varnado was a staunch and lifelong supporter of civil and voting rights for Blacks in Mississippi, Tennessee, and Alabama.  He was an early and outspoken anti-lynching advocate in these southern states. Rev. Varnado's outspokenness placed his life at-risk of being lynched on more than one occasion.

Rev. Varnado, who attended college at Alcorn State University, made sure all five of his children were college educated.  He also served on the board of trustees at six historically Black colleges.

For 56 years, Willie Varnado used his church platform to teach and showcase the economic power derived from networking within the Black community and the independence that comes with living within your means and operating debt-free in a Jim Crow society.

Rising Up from Humble Beginnings

Rev. Willie Varnado was born in Pike County, Mississippi in 1880.  His father, Radisson Varnado, was an oiler of farm machines.  His mother, Angeline Nelson Varnado, was a homemaker who died in childbirth when Willie was 7 years old.  Willie's paternal and maternal grandparents were slaves in Mississippi.

Willie Varnado was married to Oda Etta Carmichael, my maternal grandmother, for 52 years before she died from a prolonged illness.  All five of their children (including daughter Pearl from Rev. Varnado's first marriage) had very successful personal and professional lives.  My mother, Lillian Bernice Varnado Watkins, was the couple's fourth child.

The family of Willie and Oda Etta Varnado. My mother Lillian Bernice Varnado Watkins is the second girl from the right.

A Calling to Preach and Empower the Black Community

Willie Varnado was called to preach at age 14 and started his career in the ministry 10 years later in March 1904.  He became an ordained minister on May 1, 1906.  Fairview Baptist Church in Pike County, Mississippi was his first church. 

Rev. Varnado served on the board of the Natchez (Mississippi) Baptist Convention for 36 years and was board chair for 11 years.  He was a member of the National Baptist Convention for 51 years.  He was a pastor for 56 years.  In total, Rev. Varnado spent 70 years in the Baptist ministry.

Throughout his entire career, Willie Varnado taught financial independence to all of his church members and their families. He stressed three economic empowerment messages -- live within your means, avoid debt, and spend your money with each other.

In 1966, Adam Watkins, my paternal grandfather, and Willie Varnado anchored the Watkins family photo depicted below at my oldest sister Marie's wedding in Montgomery, Alabama. All three men seated on the front row of this photo -- Adam Watkins, Levi Watkins, Sr., and Willie Varnado -- were iconic leaders in the civil rights movement at a time when standing up for the rights of Black people was extremely dangerous work. Yet, they always stood tall. None of them was a "buck dancer" for the practitioners of Jim Crow. Nobody ever took their manhood from them.

Adam Watkins (front row, left) and Rev. Willie Varnado (front row, right) anchored this 1966 photo of the Levi and Lillian Watkins family.

All of the women in the photo above were early feminists, and all of them dominated their professions with superior intellectual acumen.

The six Watkins siblings standing behind these men and my mother Lillian followed in their footsteps by pioneering in the civil rights arena throughout their entire careers.

Faithfully serving and protecting the civil, voting, and human rights of Black Americans has been a family mission in the Carmichael/Varnado/Watkins bloodline since the 1830s. It is a mission that has been passed down to each generation of family members for six generations.

Rev. Willie Varnado was one of the standard-bearers for this proud family legacy. He and his wife loved us unconditionally, raised us up, protected us, and led us by example.

Rev. Willie Varndao and wife Oda Etta Varnado with their children and grandchildren in Memphis, Tennessee in 1957.

Finally, I carry with honor the first name of my father's best friend in college (Donald Brown) and the last name of each grandfather -- Donald Varnado Watkins. All three men were strong civil rights warriors until the day they died. This is my goal, as well.