Linda Coleman, a Democratic candidate for lieutenant governor, came of age during a time of great change.

When she was a teenager, Coleman's family and their neighbors had to leave their downtown neighborhood off First Street.

She attended college in the late 1960s, at the height of civil rights protests in Greensboro and other cities across the United States.

She went into teaching because that is what women wanting a professional career did, but by the 1970s, she knew education wouldn't be her profession.

She had one vision for her future throughout it all.

"The one thing I always wanted to do and was very passionate about was public service," she said.

That passion has lead Coleman, 62, to be one of two Democrats and five Republicans seeking the lieutenant governor's office.

"I felt like I needed to do this, to say to my supporters, 'I will give this all I've got,'" Coleman said.

Even though her parents and their contemporaries were denied job and educational opportunities in their youth, they instilled in her a steadfast belief that education would allow her to reach her dreams.

"The adults gave you confidence in yourself, that you could be anything you wanted to be if you got your education," she said. "They were who cared for you and wanted the best for you."

She wants today's children to have the same support and educational opportunities she had.

"We have to recommit ourselves to investing in education," Coleman said. "Every generation wants the next generation to be better off and the only way to ensure that is education."

Coleman grew up in the neighborhood once located at the Greenville Town Common.

"I had gone to Scotland Neck to spend the summer with my aunt and uncle," Coleman said. "When I came back I saw all these signs that said 'Vote no to urban renewal.' There was a really big push to vote against it."

City leaders wanted to demolish the neighborhood and move its residents to newly built public housing.

Coleman said she does not remember being worried about the future during this time.

"We knew ultimately our parents would take care of us," she said.

Coleman graduated from high school in 1967. She planned to live with two of her sisters in New York and find a job, but a last-minute scholarship offer from N.C. Agricultural and Technical State University convinced her to remain in North Carolina.

The Civil Rights Movement was in full force in Greensboro. During her freshman and sophomore years, students never got to finish their exams because of the numerous protests taking place on and around campus, she said.

"The administration was very sympathetic to our goals," said. They only required students to follow two rules: no rioting and no vandalism, she said.

"They allowed us to express our frustration, whether it was an issue at the university or outside school," she said.

Coleman graduated with a degree in French. She spent several years teaching in New Jersey and then in Virginia and eventually realized teaching wasn't her passion. She returned to school and earned a degree in public administration from the University of Pittsburgh's Graduate School of Public and International Affairs.

She returned to North Carolina and went to work with the state Office of Personnel developing employment exams. She later worked as a human resources manager in several other departments in state government.

Along the way she participated in numerous community organizations like the Food Bank of North Carolina and YWCA of Wake County.

She was selected to participate in the Institute of Political Leadership in the late 1990s. It was a program that focused on improving civility in public politics. One activity involved designing a political campaign.

There was a great deal of turmoil in Wake County politics because of cuts in education spending. She was approached about running for the board. She decided to put her campaign plan to the test.

"They say the first time you run, it is for name recognition," Coleman said. "But I won." Coleman was the second black woman elected to the Wake board and the first to serve as chairwoman. It was during her tenure as chairwoman that a $500 million education bond referendum was approved with bipartisan support.

She later was elected to the state House of Representatives, serving three terms. It was during her last term that Gov. Beverly Perdue appointed her director of the Office of State Personnel.

"My job in state government was to attract top talent," she said.

Coleman said as lieutenant governor she will follow that philosophy of recruiting the best while improving education and pursuing job growth.

"When we recruit jobs, let's not just recruit companies but recruit industries," she said.

 

Contact Ginger Livingston at glivingston@reflector.com or 252-329-9570.