Dedicating his life’s mission to giving voice to the voiceless, power to the vulnerable, upliftment to the downtrodden and hope to everyone he encounters, Timothy Henderson has faithfully served his fellowman as if his steps have been led to do so.

 

Within three decades of military service, this retired lieutenant colonel has worked at the highest levels of the United States Air Force and reached back into the community to recruit other minorities to join elite officer training programs.

 

From his high school days of demanding better textbooks to leading a crusade of students protesting school closure while student government vice-president at Mississippi Valley State University, Tim Henderson has been on the path of leadership as if it were a calling.

 

And he plans to bring those same leadership skills, that same caring heart, that same determination, that same drive to the healing of his beloved city of Jackson as your next mayor.

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“I see people struggling. I see people hurting. I see the torn-up roads, the low test scores of too many of our school children, the poverty, the crime, the hunger,” Henderson explains. “To whom much is given, much is required. There is a need that we can’t turn away from.

 

He continues, “I don’t have all the answers. I don’t think anybody does, but I promise to give the best that I have to give. And I will continue to give the people of Jackson the best in me time and time and time again, because somebody has to care, somebody who’s capable.”

 

Born and raised in the small Mississippi Delta town of Cleveland, Henderson is no stranger to suffering. Number five of eight children, his parents often struggled to keep food on the table. His father, who only had a third-grade education, worked construction, and his mother worked at a local drycleaner and cleaned houses on the side.

 

“Coming up, we went through challenges, but we were taught to overcome them,” he thinks back. “You don’t just stay stuck. You figure out how to get past where you are and keep moving in a positive direction.”

 

Growing up in a strict Church of God in Christ household, the children weren’t allowed to play sports in school, but young Tim played saxophone in marching band, jazz band and symphonic band at Eastside High School. During his senior year, he was elected class president.

 

Noticing how the textbooks at his school were old and outdated, he represented the entire student body and brought their concerns to the school board to address the issue. “The white students at the schools across the tracks get new books almost every year,” he pointed out at the meeting. “I got some of my older siblings’ books, and they are seven, eight years older than me.”

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After he went off to college and enlisted in the Army Reserve, Henderson was later told the school got new books the next year.

 

His commitment for evoking change continued as a student at Valley, where he was elected as vice-president of student government and organized a massive protest against the proposed closure of the university.

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“I ran because I wanted to make a difference for the students. I wasn’t afraid to go out and try to make it better,” Henderson expresses. “I’ve always been unafraid and unapologetic. The right thing to do is the right thing to do.”

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While in college, he switched from Army ROTC to Air Force ROTC. After earning his bachelor’s in biology with a minor in chemistry and receiving second lieutenant gold bars, he oversaw the recruitment of other minorities all over Mississippi. During his 24 years in the Air Force, he has also been responsible for high-level special operations commands and training.

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“I went all over the state in search of minorities with high test scores and expose them to the possibilities that could change the trajectory of their lives,” Henderson contends. “People need exposure. When people are exposed to things that they may not have been aware of, they can make different decisions, better decisions.”

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Now retired from the armed forces, he is now a contracted consultant in the space industry. Calling Jackson home since 2014, Timothy Henderson wants to expose the Capitol City to its limitless possibilities.

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“My vision for Jackson is a safe, clean, vibrant city where all Jacksonians are partakers of a new economy where everybody gets an opportunity to the table,” Henderson demands.

 

“Jackson of tomorrow has 100 black millionaires. The Jackson of tomorrow has a game plan for fixing the infrastructure, a crime strategy that holds people accountable and serves as a deterrent to crime but also seeks to influence on the front end to keep the crime from becoming a crime.

 

“We gotta get back to investing in our young people. We need to give them options… The Jackson of tomorrow looks vastly different from the Jackson of today. We gone break these locks and create opportunity for everybody to succeed!”