Hale, in his book, Angels Watching Over Me, described him as “a young man divinely endowed and superbly equipped with talents that would carry him far. Under the presidency of the late Frank Hale Jr., Ph.D., Pearson became president of the United Student Movement (student government of Oakwood). He admits that he sometimes went against the grain and got in trouble because of it.

While at Oakwood, Pearson’s leadership skills were recognized and developed. Pearson graduated and then went off to Oakwood College (now Oakwood University) in Huntsville, Alabama. Although Pearson’s family was very poor and the years at Pine Forge Academy were very lean, his matriculation at Pine Forge proved that Adventist Christian education pays off. His mother again worked as a church school teacher, his father traveled as a part-time colporteur to make ends meet, and money was scraped together to send the boys to Pine Forge Academy in Pine Forge, Pennsylvania. The family settled in Savannah, Georgia, which brought opportunities only the Lord could have inspired. Pearson would often confess in his sermons that, if the demographers had their way, they would have said that two little Black boys growing up in the projects in South America, which is what he called Mobile, would have little or no chance of success. As a result, the Pearson family moved often to find ways to support and protect their boys. His father, although an excellent craftsman, found it difficult to earn consistent wages because of his color and the racist system that undercut his bidding for jobs. His mother was a dedicated educator, but it brought little compensation. In the rural South in the mid-1940s, Church school teachers were making less than minimum wage, working long hours, and teaching several grade levels. His mother was a church school educator, and his father was a contractor. His brother, Edward Luther, was born 18 months later. Walter Leonard Pearson Jr., 74, was born November 11, 1945, in Mobile, Alabama, to the late Walter Leonard Pearson Sr.

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