Princess Barber-Williams is a Princess of the People and a Champion of New Leaders

Some people move to a neighborhood and slowly grow into community leadership. For Princess Barber-Williams, the story unfolded in reverse. She grew up in Jackson’s Westside community and spent a lifetime becoming one of the neighborhood’s most dedicated advocates.

Her name, fittingly, has always carried a sense of warmth and pride.

“My mom and dad both took credit for my name,” Barber-Williams said with a laugh. “They said I was a pretty baby, so they named me Princess.”

Born and raised in Westside Subdivision No. 2 in Ward 4, Barber-Williams has spent her entire life in the community she now helps lead. Her roots run deep in Jackson, beginning with her early education in Catholic school before transferring to Jackson Public Schools in eighth grade. She graduated from Forest Hill High School and later attended Mississippi College in Clinton.

Today, she still lives in the same neighborhood where she grew up, a quiet community filled with familiar landmarks and memories.

“Back in the day, I would tell people, ‘This is where the Four O’Clock Tea Room is,’” she said. “Everybody knew that place. People came from all over for the food and the atmosphere.”

Those memories reflect a neighborhood that has always been rich with community spirit. That spirit eventually inspired Barber-Williams to move from simply living in the neighborhood to helping lead it.

“When you’re young, you don’t know a lot about what’s going on in the community,” she said. “You’re just trying to go to school and do what you need to do. But as I got older, I realized the neighborhood needed help.”

She joined the Westside Civic Club under the leadership of Dr. Robert Anthony, who served as president at the time. Like many volunteer organizations, leadership often grows from participation. Soon after joining, Barber-Williams was asked to serve as treasurer.

As longtime volunteers aged or stepped away, younger leaders were needed to carry the work forward. Barber-Williams stepped in to help.

Her involvement expanded further when she began attending meetings of the Jackson Association of Neighborhoods. In 2012, the year she retired from State Farm Insurance after 35 years of service, Barber-Williams became president of the Westside Civic Club while also stepping into leadership within the Jackson Association of Neighborhoods.

The timing allowed her to focus on community work in a new way.

“If I’m not helping,” she said, “what would I be doing?”

During her time as president, Barber-Williams helped organize neighborhood cleanups, meetings and outreach efforts. But one moment stands out as particularly meaningful.

In 2019, she organized the community’s first awards banquet to honor longtime volunteers.

“We brought in food and served everybody,” she said. “We gave awards to people who had been working in the community all these years but had never been recognized.”

The event celebrated what she calls the neighborhood’s “local heroes,” residents who quietly prepared meals, helped organize events and supported community gatherings without expecting recognition.

Another tradition she helped lead was the neighborhood’s Thanksgiving outreach for seniors. Youth volunteers served meals to elderly residents at the community center while others delivered plates of food to neighbors who were unable to attend.

“It was our way of giving back,” she said.

Like many community traditions, the banquet and large gatherings paused during the COVID-19 pandemic. In recent years, the neighborhood has continued its outreach in smaller ways, delivering care packages and food baskets to seniors.

Even after years of leadership, Barber-Williams has not stepped away from service.

She currently serves as secretary for the Jackson Association of Neighborhoods, continuing to support the organization even after serving as president. Her commitment reflects a belief that volunteer leadership requires continuity and mentorship.

“Volunteerism is hard,” she said. “You need people willing to help.”

She believes one of the biggest challenges for neighborhood organizations is encouraging new volunteers to step forward and continue the work; continue her work.

“When someone who has been doing the work passes away or moves on, you need someone behind them to keep it going,” she said.

Her willingness to stay involved and pass along knowledge reflects a broader belief that community leadership must be shared.

Beyond her community leadership, Barber-Williams has also built a long professional career. After retiring from State Farm Insurance she worked for nine years with the Clinton Public School District before retiring again in 2022.

Today, she continues helping families through LegalShield, where she has spent more than a decade assisting clients with wills, legal protection and identity security services.

Her personal life also reflects a new chapter. On November 1, 2025 Barber-Williams married Oliver Williams, Pastor of Hardy Grove Missionary Baptist Church. Both had previously been widowed.

Looking ahead, Barber-Williams hopes to continue helping JAN work to help Jackson regain the vibrancy she remembers from earlier years.

“I would like to see Jackson become a viable city again,” she said. “A city where people want to come.”

That vision includes new businesses, clean-ups, more restaurants and opportunities that bring residents together across neighborhoods.

For Princess Barber-Williams, the future of Jackson depends on the same thing that has guided her life in Westside Subdivision No. 2: remaining open to find love again, where neighbors help neighbors and volunteers step forward to serve.