BISHOP T.D. JAKES’ INTERNATIONAL LEADERSHIP SUMMIT ADVANCE COVERAGE: New Jersey author Avalon S. Brown’s ‘It Was The Devil All Along’ recalls turmoil she endured during 40-plus-year nursing career
Andre Johnson 
Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. (1 Peter 5:8 KJV)
MORE THAN A CONQUEROR
Avalon S. Brown’s rise to finding her niche in an ever-evolving nursing industry came with an array of chaos, turbulence and, as she tells it, “a little attitude.”
“I know when I was young first starting out, I had a little attitude because I didn’t feel like I wanted to be pushed around by anybody,” Brown recalls. “But then I began to look at it as a prejudice. My first 12 years, I was the only black nurse between all three shifts on my unit.
“I experienced unfairness, they were disrespecting the seniority I had or the work that I did, not giving me the schedule, I requested, or praise and other people on the units, no matter how well my work was. I just seemed there was just something about me that the authority figure on the floor did not like. We always clashed the whole 40 years of my nursing.”
Given the rash of obstacles Brown endured during a nursing tenure that spanned some four-plus decades, the Newark, New Jersey-based author deemed it necessary to compose a book that discloses her slew of experiences, many of which challenged her faith walk unlike never before.
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As part of Making Headline News’ advance coverage of Bishop T. D. Jakes’ International Leadership Summit May 4-6 in Orlando, Brown spoke at length about It Was The Devil All Along, a memoir that recalls the recurring experiences she faced throughout her chosen career.
“I always had a vision since I was young that I wanted to be a nurse,” Brown told MHN, explaining the notable developments surrounding the production of her memoir. “From the beginning when I went to nursing school, the administrator said that I should not be a nurse, that I should be a secretary. And, after becoming a nurse, I was working in a particular hospital in the dietary department and it took me three months to even get up into the nursing department. The supervisor kept telling me that there were no positions.”
GOD’S PURPOSED PUSHER
What’s even more disheartening, Brown recalls, is that she witnessed several classmates acquire nursing jobs in that same hospital.
“It wasn’t until I finally talked to one of the supervisors who happened to be married to a black man that got me into a nursing position in next week,” Brown explained. “All through my nursing career, I seem to bump heads into the administration, the head nurses, or the managers. But then I began to look at it as a prejudice.”
Consequently, Brown began to observe and assess her job-related turmoil from a spiritual perspective, realizing, among other things, she wasn’t merely wrestling against flesh and blood, but rather against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places, as the Apostle Paul strategically reminded the church at Ephesus (Ephesians 6:12).
THUS SAID THE LORD
A book that officially debuted in March 2021, Brown’s It Was The Devil All Along recalls her four-plus-decade career as a nurse, particularly how she steadily climbed the management ladder, during which she proved she was capable of advancing and enjoying a favorable tenure, despite the array of critics with whom she crossed paths.
“Often, her struggles seemed unfair, but what Avalon realized is that these trials have only made her stronger and the problem is neither hers, nor her peers,” said a spokesperson Brown’s book via Amazon.com. “For It was the devil all along.”
When asked what was the single, most underlying reason she chose to produce It Was The Devil All Along, Brown, who made her authorship debut in 2018 and has since written more than a dozen books, said:
“During my nursing career, I began to see the same situations over and over and over, no matter how I worked or tried to do my very best. Every time there was a new manager, it started out nicely but, then somewhere along the line, it began to turn ugly. I didn’t really understand what was going on. Every time something came up, I decided that I would fight back with my mouth.”
Interestingly enough, amongst the things Brown would ultimately discover is that it was time she had a much-needed — and long-awaited — coming to Jesus meeting.
With herself, of course.
As a result, she began to learn the importance of viewing her unfavorable workplace situations and circumstances from God’s perspective.
“It wasn’t until I got into church that I started realizing what was going on,” Brown recalls. “My father was a Bishop and founded his own church. He passed away in 1993. He would always try to tell me about people and spirits in people, how a lot of things are not the people, it’s the spirits that are in the people. But I wasn’t in church at the time. His last words to me before he died was, ‘Get in church and get your soul saved.’”
BOOKS UNIVERSITY
After making peace with God, Brown subsequently began to garner a peace of mind in the workplace — with God, her Helper, steering the way.
“The more I got into church, the more I started seeing what (my father) was talking about,” Brown said. “When I left the hospital, and I went into another field of nursing, and I started seeing (similar challenges) there also. That’s where I realized that it wasn’t about prejudice, it’s about people, the spirits. Because I was now working with my own culture. I had matured and grown up, and I was no longer lashing out every time they came at me. I started learning how to be quiet and just let God handle the situation, even if I had to cry sometimes.
“Being quiet and working the best I could, the attack was still going on, the attack of my character, the lies on my character, making up things that I was not even doing. I just got to the point where I really became so tired of it. But my father always said never let them make you quit, because that is what they want you to do.”
GOD WAS THERE ALL THE TIME
For what it’s worth, Brown was determined to allow her work to speak for itself.
Mission accomplished, as evidenced by the sustained success she enjoyed as a longtime catalyst in the nursing profession.
“So I would go to work and take the scorn and embarrassment,” she explained. “I would go to work and just work as hard as I could. I realized I was there for my patients and not management because nursing is my passion. I had to just put these situations in the book because, when I look back over the 40 years of nursing, I realized every situation they threw at me, God overturned them when I believed and obeyed His words. I started just letting him fight the battle and being me and keeping a good spirit in me, never letting them see me down. Every time the devil thought he had me, I saw God step in, even if it was at the last minute, and overturn whatever they were trying to do.”
So much for “a little attitude.”
A RELATED STORY
For more information about Newark, New Jersey Author Avalon Brown, to inquire about her books, or to schedule her for a public appearance, book signing or speaking engagement, connect with her via Facebook or Instagram. Send email to [email protected].
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Andre Johnson is the award-winning Founder and Publisher for Making Headline News. A 2000 graduate of the University of Memphis School of Journalism and a former staff reporter of sports for the Memphis Commercial Appeal newspaper, Johnson covers the NBA Southwest Division from Dallas, Texas. To reach Johnson, send email to [email protected] or to [email protected]. Also, follow him on Twitter @AJ_Journalist or Instagram at @makingheadlinenews.
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