2022 Black Heritage Calendar - Presented by the Black Educators' Caucus Inc., of Hernando County

Jennie Wright & Brenda Cason
1919-2002 07/28/1950 – 2020
Jennie Larry-Wright and Brenda Wright-Cason, mother and daughter, are Brooksville,
Florida natives and first and second generation Hernando County educators whose
career paths have similarities. Jennie, Brenda’s mother completed her secondary
education in 1939 at Middleton High School in Tampa, Florida because Hernando
County did not offer high school diplomas to its African Americans. Jennie earned an
associate degree from Florida Memorial College, and her bachelors from Tuskegee
Institute (University), made famous by Booker T. Washington, George Washington
Carver, and Tuskegee Airmen. She returned to Hernando County to teach at a time
when high school graduation for Blacks was still a new experience. She taught for 39
years, including tenures at Croom, Moton and Brooksville Primary. She retired in 1983.
The Richard and Bonnie Inmon Family had a plaque mounted on the Mid-Florida
Community Services Head Start office wall to commemorate Jennie’s role as a Moton
High School alumna and teacher. Jennie was a charter member (1952) of Kelly Temple
#1004 where she served as the chaplain.
Brenda was the valedictorian of the last class to graduate from Moton High School 1968. She
had been accepted and prepared to enter Tuskegee, following in the steps of her mother and cousins, Carrie B. Martin
and Hazel Land until her high school principal talked her out of it. She went on to earn a Bachelor of Education degree
in 1971
from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), graduating Magna Cum Laude.
She commenced her teaching career in Hillsborough County until there was an opening in
Hernando County. She earned a Master of Education degree in early childhood education
in 1977, while still teaching. She also became the first African American woman in
Hernando County to become an assistant principal in the desegregated system.
Brenda continued to serve as an assistant principal for various schools until her
retirement in 2007. She loved her students, fellow educators, and took pride in
making a difference in the lives of all she encountered.
She was involved in many civic organizations to include Black Educators’ Caucus,
Inc. of Hernando County, Democratic Black Caucus of Florida, Delta Sigma Theta
Sorority, African American Club of Hernando County, Rotary International, Take
Stock in Children, Head Start, Hernando County Choir Federation, and Interested
Women of Various Endeavors in Society (IWVES) Club. She was a lover of music, had
a song for every occasion, and played the piano since age sixteen. She was the
musician for Ebenezer Missionary Baptist Church and Mt. Pilgrim Freewill Baptist
Church until her health failed. Brenda transitioned into eternal life on April 17, 2020, after
a ten-year battle with Alzheimer’s. Brenda is survived by her daughter, Keisha Cason.
Sponsor: Keisha Cason
“You can pray until you faint, but unless you get up and try to do something,
God is not going to put it in your lap.” ― Fannie Lou Hamer