Photo by Courtesy Debrynda Davey

If you search the name Debrynda, as I did, the only one that appears is Debrynda Davey of Clinton.

When I asked her about the name, she smiled and said that it had been a mistake. She was supposed to be named Dorinda, but while under anesthesia her mother spoke her name, and the nurse heard Debrynda, and so it was. Perhaps it was fate foreshadowing a life dedicated to those who are different from the rest of us and, therefore, not easily accepted by society sometimes--or perhaps it is what led to that life.

Davey graduated from S.D. Lee High School in Columbus, Miss., in the early 1970s and began a long and successful career as a nurse and nurse educator. She graduated from Mississippi University for Women and went on to earn a master's degree from the University of Tennessee at Memphis and a doctorate from Delta State University. She retired from the University of Mississippi Medical Center as a nursing professor in 2010, although she still teaches part-time. She spends the rest of her time advocating against violence.

"Jackson has become an important center of learning and advocating for victims and in creative ways of addressing family and interpersonal violence," she says

But it wasn't until a physician told her that she should just institutionalize her young autistic daughter and get on with her life that she truly found her life's work. "That opened my eyes," she says. "I looked at people differently then. I watched how they responded to my daughter JoDee and how the system responded, and I knew I needed to do something."

Thus began her career in the prevention of interpersonal violence, specifically violence against women, children and the handicapped. Her definition of violence is not restricted to physical acts but also, psychological, sexual, financial and any other manipulative behaviors that a person uses or threatens to use against someone else.

Davey is involved with numerous state, federal and local agencies as well as many organizations working toward a violence-free world. She is currently working with the Mississippi Coalition Against Domestic Violence to engage men in preventing and responding to domestic violence.

JoDee is in her 20s now and "has been a source of pure joy in my life," Davey says.

Davey, JoDee and her 11-year-old granddaughter Calli Price were standing in line at a store when several teenage boys began making fun of JoDee. Calli looked at her grandmother and said, "I'll take care of this." She walked over to the boys and told them, "I heard what you said, and you need to leave, now." And they did. "Calli is a good example of what needs to happen across the world!" Davey says.