Denise Brown — Fighting The Violence
Earlier this spring, Denise Brown, sister of the late Nicole Brown Simpson, stopped in Encinitas as keynote speaker at the Community Resource Center’s annual English Tea. It is one of over 50 speaking engagements Brown has booked this year, but public speaking was not something she aspired to as a little girl. "I used to ditch school if I had to give an oral book report," she recalls, laughing.

Brown, the oldest of four sisters in a tight-knit family, was born in Frankfurt, Germany and raised in Southern California. She grew up and had a son of her own, and describes her life during those years as "remarkable only in its normalcy."

"I was just a mom, just the average everyday person. Went to work, took care of my son, had my family, my dog, the whole thing." On June 12, 1994, tragedy struck the Brown family, when their second daughter, Nicole Brown Simpson, was murdered.

"Things were pretty normal until June 12, then all of a sudden you realize. It was just a rude awakening. You live in this little bubble and think everything is great and all of a sudden you realize that there’s a whole other world out there."

When people began to speculate about domestic violence, Brown recalls, "I was the first person to come out and say, ’Nicole’s not a battered woman.’" The Nicole she knew had a strong personality, and Brown couldn’t imagine that her sister would tolerate abuse.But Brown’s image of her sister was soon revised when their father found Nicole’s diaries and letters. "I never thought she’d allow somebody to do that, if I hadn’t seen it in her own writing," says Brown. "You go to shelters and you see the battered women all beaten down, but Nicole was never like that. She always had her head up. I realize it’s a façade. It’s a whole other person that comes forward, that image that ’I’m strong.’ But that’s the whole misconception. People think ’she’s a strong person, it can’t happen to her,’ or ’he’s rich, no way would he do that.’"

In Nicole’s own handwriting, Brown learned of the abuse that her sister endured and hid from her family and the world. Looking for answers, Brown and her mother visited a domestic violence shelter near their home. "I would go to shelters because I needed to know why," says Brown. "Because Nicole couldn’t tell me, she was no longer with us. The only people who could explain this to me were the women actually going through it."

Brown continued to educate herself about domestic violence — reading books, talking to experts, meeting with men and women in prison. "If you don’t know what it is, you can’t pinpoint it, you just think, ’what a horrible person.’ And you ask that ’why’ question — ’Why does he hit her, why is she staying?’ Education and awareness are the key to everything. If you learn about it, then you can make a difference."

Brown has worked hard to make that difference during the last 13 years. She heads the Nicole Brown Foundation, an organization that tackles domestic violence from several different angles — including victim response, education and awareness, and legislative initiatives. When the Violence Against Women Act faced a potential slashing of funds, Brown testified to the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee, helping increase the bill’s funding by nearly double. Brown also helps educate people around the country and the world, speaking in venues ranging from universities, prisons, celebrity events, and fundraisers for local shelters nationwide.

"This was not a planned thing, to go out and speak, it just kind of fell in my lap," says Brown. Her first speaking engagement, soon after she testified in the criminal trial against OJ Simpson, was in front of 800 people. For a moment, her old fears of public speaking returned. "I got up on the podium, and thought I was going to pass out," she recalls. It took a few moments of reminding herself that this was not a graded assignment, but, rather, something to help others, "and that’s all it took. Now it’s ok. This is my work. The foundation is my passion."

Brown’s ultimate goal is to see the establishment of a cabinet-level Department of Peace. She believes this would streamline the otherwise fragmented efforts against domestic violence around the country. She would like to see children in schools taught about the issue, so they, too, can help break the cycle of violence. She also seeks the establishment and enforcement of long-term treatment programs for batterers.

Ending domestic violence is a life-long mission for Brown. "I see myself doing this for the rest of my life, that’s for sure." — JJ Hall, photography by Carol Sonstein

Nicole Brown Charitable Foundation

Year Founded: 1994

Overall Mission: To educate the national and international communities to the dangers of domestic violence and help organizations that shelter and protect families in crisis, support long-term solutions, and work with educational programs specializing in rehabilitation and job training.

Six Critical Efforts:
1. Response to victims.
2. Education and Awareness.
3. Legislative Initiatives.
4. Local and National Programs.
5. Events.
6. Opening the doors to Nicole’s House — a comprehensive 18- to 24-month program designed to enable each participant and their children to become economically self-sufficient by promoting physical, emotional, and financial stability in a healthy, violence-free atmosphere.

Contact Information: 949/283-5330, info@nbcf.org