Dr. Karanja Ajanaku

(Tri-State Defender Executive Editor Karanja A. Ajanaku covered the 1988 through 1991 sessions of the Tennessee General Assembly. Sen. John S. Wilder’s 36-year run as lieutenant governor and speaker of the Senate included this period. Wilder died Friday, Jan. 1 at age 88. )

In February of 1988, I was dispatched to Nashville to cover a Tennessee General Assembly session that already was in progress. I felt like a fish out of water, and that is not even counting the fact that I still was feeling my way around the world with a new name (formerly Leroy Williams Jr.), a new clothing style (dashikis) and a fresh crop of dreadlocks.

One of the first “big name” people I met on “the Hill” was former Lt. Gov. John Wilder. My mentor – Dr. Nkosi K.M. Ajanaku, esq. – had persuaded me to initiate a conversation with the “governor” – as Wilder often was called – and introduce myself. I did.

Honestly, I don’t remember all that much about the details of the conversation. He showed me an office item that reflected his faith in Jesus. And he listened politely as I made my way through my story of transitioning from Leroy to Karanja. But the result sticks with me: a familiarity, a warmth and a show of respect that he demonstrated in all our subsequent meetings.

John Wilder

There is, however, a more vivid memory of “Gov.” Wilder that sticks with me. It occurred during a high-profile debate that unfolded in the wake of then-Sen. John Ford’s encounter with truckers on a highway. Ford was said to have brandished a pistol and there was a move afoot to remove him from his post as chairman of the Senate General Welfare, Health, and Human Resources Committee.

Senator after senator spoke his/her piece in the Senate Chamber. Then Wilder, who had been conducting the session, stepped into the well of the Senate and delivered what I thought was a masterful argument about the need for due process.

Wilder took the Senate back to the banks of the Runnymede, which generally is considered the most likely location where (in 1215) King John sealed the Magna Carta. History books tell us that the Magna Carta had an impact on common and constitutional law as well as political representation also affecting the development of parliament.

Some snickered at Wilder’s reference, obviously thinking it far afield. I happened to be studying American history and due process at the time and I locked in on his point – that without due process we have no Republic. And that we must remember this regardless of how unsettling the details are of any particular situation.

(Executive Editor Karanja A. Ajanaku can be reached at kajanaku@tri-statedefender.com)