REV Barbara Devine Russell

Barbara Devine Reed was born in a friendly little town called Canton in Central Mississippi, She was the first to be awarded the distinction of Class Historian at her graduation from Rogers High School in 1964. Barbara is an Ordained minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and a 2013 graduate of New Foundation Theological Seminary, Flora, Mississippi, where she received a degree in Christian Counseling. She has a long history of public service and is well known for her volunteer community services with at-risk children and youth and voter registration and education outreach. Minister Reed founded Victory Through Faith in Jesus, The Village Ministries -- a faith-based ministry that aspires to lift families by leaving no child behind. She and her husband, musician Jerry Reed are the producers of a series of Gospel Meditations of which she is the featured vocalist. Minister Reed is the daughter of nationally acclaimed civil rights activist, Annie Devine who became well-known as one of the foremost leaders of the Mississippi Civil Rights Movement and a principal organizer of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. Devine was thrust on the national scene during the Mississippi Challenge at the 1964 Democratic National Convention in Atlantic City, New Jersey where she, as a delegate of the MFDP, objected to the seating of the regular Democratic Party from Mississippi because Black people were totally disenfranchised and excluded from the political process. This historic movement strongly influenced the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act and delivered Black people full citizenship rights that are guaranteed by the US Constitution. Minister Reed is also the Author of the book entitled: "Profile of a Civil Rights Activist," and an unpublished play: "The Long Hot Summer," both depicts her mother, Annie Devine's civil rights legacy.