Meet Rev. Mrs. Carolyn Whiteside-Kendall

We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Rev. Mrs. Carolyn Whiteside-Kendall. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Rev. Mrs. Carolyn below.

Rev. Mrs. Carolyn, so good to have you with us today. We’ve got so much planned, so let’s jump right into it. We live in such a diverse world, and in many ways the world is getting better and more understanding but it’s far from perfect. There are so many times where folks find themselves in rooms or situations where they are the only ones that look like them – that might mean being the only woman of color in the room or the only person who grew up in a certain environment etc. Can you talk to us about how you’ve managed to thrive even in situations where you were the only one in the room?

As an African American female who has been very outgoing all of her life, I have found myself to be the only one in the room so to speak, very often, not that I have wanted to be in that position or even expected it, yet it was the reality. I have found that my natural curiosity and confidence would often surface. I was a reader and would read books and imagine that I was in France, even while I was taking French I and II in high school, verbalizing to myself as if I was in the cafe. So to stand in front of people different from me, I already felt as though I actually belonged despite what any racism may have been spoken, I had that confidence. I was well read, well spoken, well dressed and felt I deserved to be in that room and if they did not agree with that, I would change their minds. I would engage people with conversation, while my peers would be shy, but my grandmother raised me and she taught me from a young age that “a closed mouth don’t get fed” so you must speak up and let people know you have something to say, and that you have something of quality to say. I aim to be effective in each setting, which often opens up more opportunites for me to speak or so share my ideas in that areana. Never dim your light or second guess yourself because that will surely be obvious.

Thanks, so before we move on maybe you can share a bit more about yourself?

I am Rev. Mrs. Carolyn Whiteside-Kendall and I am married to Alon Kendall whom I have been with for 42 and married for 38 of those. We were not blessed with any children, but we have a lot of godchildren, nieces and nephews, along with extended family. I am retired after 32 years from the Department of Human Services where I worked with people who had mental disablities. I suffered a mild stoke in 2021 and had a heart attack in 2022 and a mild one again when the lead came out seven weeks later.
I graduated from Brinkley High School in Brinkley Arkansas in 1979 at 17 and was in the Ms. Black Arkansas Beauty Pagent, no I did not win nor place! I went on to attend the University of Central Arkansas in Conway Arkanas from the fall 1979 until December 1982 at which time I left school and began sub-teaching in January at Cotton Plant Public Schools in Cotton Plant Arkansas (school is not defunct). That employment led me to the beginning of my employment with the state of Arkansas, a blessing I did not understand at the time. After retirement, thinking I would continue with the Kendall Enterprise LLC that my husband and I have, unfortunately, my husband who also worked at Department of Human Services as a Child Abuse Investigator, suffered a stroke and it left him with a cognitive disorder which quickly moved into dementia; I am now his full time caregiver. Left feeling as if my life was at a standstill, God called me to SERVICE, I am now an ORDAINED MINISTER. I also went back to school and compled my degree, and enrolled in Harding School of Theology working on my Master’s in Divinity, as well as starting my NONPROFIT, I did all of this in 2022.
Yes, I am very excited about the future and I am looking forward to the many opportunities that are coming my way. I continue to host two job fairs every year “The Your Future Awaits” and the annual “Thanksgiving Turkey Giveaway” events. I also have a clothes closet open to the minority women that we serve, as well as the free counseling services that we offer and many other serves. I am a 3 term notary which in Arkansas is 30 years. I am an active member of the Jonesboro Chamber of Commerce and this year I was on the 2025 Alzheimer’s Engagement Committee for Northeast Arkansas, my organization was number 5 in total funds raised. I have letters of support from many organizations that I have parterned with. We are now working on our programs to help minorty women in Jonesboro Arkansas and Northeast Arkansas to become homeowners; needless to say we are excited about this venture.

If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?

As I reflect on my life journey what I have found to be a constant is “to keep moving” even small steps are steps forward, you just can not stand still and wait for someting to happen, because it will, “life will move on without you”, so MOVE. If you are afraid, think, if you do not move something will happen, if I do move something will happen, so I would rather move and let that proverbial “something” happen by my choice than out of my choice. As people we have to remember that we have FREE WILL/FREE AGENCY over ourselves, the ability to make a choice, so as I advise my people that I counsel, “I suggest that you choose wisely”.
Another point of reflection, absorb everything that you learn, hear or come into contact with, study it, evaluate it, see is it worth holding onto, because that knowledge can come back to help you in the future; those are the building blocks to your future, making “you” the person that “you are BECOMING, not who you were.
Strive to be effective and affective in your communications, do not waste your time or other people time; we can not recoup time, once it is gone, it is gone. Place value on it, bring something to the convesation, or just be quiet and try to absorb some knowledge, do not be the loudest person in the room, you will be seen as the joke of the room and although you may have relevant information, it may not be received because of your delivery method, take your time; PATIENCE really is a virture.

How would you spend the next decade if you somehow knew that it was your last?

As being in the “winter” of my life, if I had only a decade of this life left, I would spend it by expanding on what I am currently doing. I am trying to build a legacy and to teach other minority women that no matter what they may have done or experienced in life they can leave a legacy for their begats, or those that they choose to. As a person who do not have any begats, yet I have set up The Warrior Center to survive and to continue long after I am gone, I feel that it is important for any dedicated CEO and or founder to go into establishing their organization with longevity in mind and an exit stragety.
I love the humanitarian efforts that I am involved with and the joy that you feel inside is indescribale, and so very impactful to society. If you can make a difference in just one person’s life, you have not wasted your time, nor energy, everyone is valuable.
I would like to be remembered as a “giver” and not a “taker” so many people are natural takers and do not realize that they are, and will drain you mentally, physically and spiritually; this causes so many issues in family and other relationships, sometimes unawares. We have to be rooted and grounded, “anchored” or you are subject to be swept away by the chaos of the world, “cares of the world”, therefore you must be wise, using the “spirit of discernment” caution, as you interact with people on a daily basis.
With this decade left, I would like to be very discerning and continue to be a blessing to the “assigned” people placed in my path, using my skills, talents and abilites to help them to navigate this thing we call “LIFE” so that the can live it to the FULL with all that it has to offer, with a clear hope impressed upon them, that they will go forward and pour into another.

Contact Info:

Image Credits

All photos taken by me, no professional photos. Flyers made by myself.

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