When Virginians elected L. Douglas Wilder governor in 1989, they made American history. For the first time, voters had chosen an African American to lead a state, breaking a barrier that had stood throughout the nation’s history.
That election and his decades of public service were recognized at the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation’s Phoenix Awards celebration on Saturday, Sept. 19. Wilder received the 2026 Congressional Black Caucus Foundation Board of Directors’ Phoenix Award, one of CBCF’s highest honors, joining fellow honorees Ambassador Andrew Young, U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty and actor Viola Davis.
The evening marked the 50th presentation of the Phoenix Awards during the foundation’s 50th anniversary year. In announcing Wilder’s selection, the foundation cited his contributions to civil rights, economic opportunity and representative government, recognizing how his election expanded possibilities for generations of Black leaders.
For Wilder, public service remains rooted in possibilities and the people he serves.
“It’s not about me or elected officials, it’s about possibilities and the people,” he said in an interview following the celebration.
His service began long before his first campaign. After graduating from Virginia Union University, Wilder served in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, earning the Bronze Star for heroism in ground combat. He later earned his law degree at Howard University.
In 1969, he became the first African American elected to the Virginia Senate since Reconstruction. He won election as lieutenant governor in 1985 and as governor in 1989, serving as Virginia’s 66th governor from 1990 to 1994. He later returned to public office as Richmond’s first popularly elected Mayor in more than 50 years, serving from 2005 to 2009.
As governor, Wilder championed the creation of Virginia’s rainy day fund, establishing a permanent reserve to help the Commonwealth weather economic downturns. His administration also received national recognition for fiscal management. Financial World magazine ranked Virginia the nation’s best-managed state for two consecutive years during his governorship.
Reflecting on the Phoenix Awards celebration, Wilder recalled his friendships with seven of the Congressional Black Caucus’s founding members: William Lacy Clay Sr., John Conyers Jr., Ronald Dellums, Charles Diggs Jr., Parren Mitchell, Charles Rangel and Louis Stokes. He spoke of the importance of their coming together across state lines, united by a responsibility to people whose needs extended beyond the boundaries of their individual districts.
He also welcomed the opportunity to see his longtime friend Young honored. Their reunion brought a personal dimension to an evening recognizing decades of work in civil rights and public service.
Asked what that history requires of the next generation of Black public leaders, Wilder turned to the concerns that shape people’s daily lives: education, the cost of living and opportunities for job advancement. These issues affect everyone, he said, while placing disproportionate burdens on people of color.
Education has remained a focus of his advocacy, particularly support for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. In 2022, Virginia Union University credited Wilder with personally advocating on its behalf to Virginia’s attorney general as the state examined avenues for supporting Virginia’s private HBCUs, including Virginia Union University and Hampton University. The following year, he convened university leaders, public officials and researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University for the Wilder Symposium, “HBCUs and the Absence of Support,” to examine disparities in funding.
In discussing these institutions, Wilder emphasized the responsibility of elected officials to account for what they are accomplishing for the people they serve.
“Let’s live in the present. What are we doing now?” he said.
His advice to young people disillusioned with government was direct: participate in the decisions that shape their lives. That counsel reflected his own experience entering institutions where Black Americans had long faced exclusion.
“Who decides certain things? Be a part of that,” he said. “When the door is closed, open the door.”
Participation, he emphasized, requires both a willingness to speak and care in how that voice is used, along with the courage to demand what is right and criticize what is wrong.
“I would encourage [young people] to have a voice,” he said, “and to express that voice the best, most civil way they can.”
At Virginia Commonwealth University, where he serves as a distinguished professor in the L. Douglas Wilder School of Government and Public Affairs, Wilder continues to share his experience with students preparing for careers in public service.
The Phoenix Award honors Wilder’s enduring place in American public life. For the governor, that recognition carries a continuing responsibility to the people he has spent his career serving. Asked to reflect on his achievements, he returned to the work ahead.
“I haven’t finished.”
