6 | GREENVILLE JOURNAL | 2.8.2019 GREENVILLEJOURNAL.COM
LILLIAN BROCK FLEMMING Clicking down a community track of history and opportunity n story by STEPHANIE TROTTER | photo by BONFIRE VISUALS
Presented by
“I’m from the Southernside, you know?” Lillian Brock Flemming recites a poem she wrote about the community she’s committed her life to supporting. The City Council District 2 Representative composed and delivered the ballad at the Peace Center for a United Way event. “It’s not really the Southern side of Greenville, it’s West Greenville,” she explains. “It’s called Southernside because of the Southern Railroad that was our boundary. As children, that’s how we designated ourselves. I’m from the Southernside, you know?” The Flemming family has long reigned in Southernside, nestled on the western edge of Greenville’s central business district. Walk any street, from Pinckney to Pete Hollis Boulevard, and you’re sure to stumble upon a facility, group or neighbor who’s survived and prospered with help from a Brock or Flemming. Lillian’s stalwart mother, Lila Mae Brock, campaigned tirelessly (among other projects) to create the Southernside Community Center, which opened in 1982. Lillian’s husband, Rev. J.M. Flemming, has served as President of the Greenville Chapter of the N.A.A.C.P. since 2013. With Lila Mae’s passing in 1996, Lillian reluctantly slipped on her mom’s favorite rubber soled shoes as matriarch of the family. In 2017, she stepped down from her established career with the Greenville
County School District, but the focused leader has no intent of reducing her philanthropic workload. At 69 years of age, the councilwoman’s entering her fourth decade as an elected public official. “I will not always be in this position,” she admits, reflecting on her 10th consecutive term with Greenville’s City Council. “But I never see myself retiring in terms of serving the community. That’s what I was called to do. I’m a professional servant.” She acknowledges she holds office for an evolving area. This past election, she faced an opponent for the first time in 32 years. “We knew the changing demographics, it’s been slowly moving here,”
she reveals. “But it was a lesson learned in terms of when you do the right thing, when you continue to work with people irrespective of where they live, how much money they have, or whether the area is wealthy, or middle income, or poor, people will see you’re doing your service and they will support you.”
