Black History Month

A LASTING LEGACY:

Black Women and U.S. Legal History

Thumbing through images of Black history, many might be surprised to find that very few Black women are depicted in images, or that their stories were even shared. In February, Holland & Knight hosted the program, “Black Women and U.S. Legal History,” which spotlighted the stories of Black women that are not prominently known, but are worth sharing.

Patrice Dixon, an associate at Jackson Lewis, and Andrea Kramer, founder of Kramer Law LLC, presented on the importance of Black women in U.S. legal history and the need to remove the invisibility of their roles, contributions and sometimes existence.

Slavery in America and Its Creation as a Legal System

Ms. Dixon discussed the beginnings of slavery in America in 1619, when the first African-Americans arrived in what is now Hampton, Virginia, and were sold into slavery. One of the first recorded women sold into slavery, she said, was a woman known as Angela, who was sometimes referred to as “Angelo.” During the early 1600s, the British did not have any laws regarding slavery, but Massachusetts was the first colony to legitimize slavery through the passage of the Massachusetts Body of Liberties in 1641. Kramer shared the story of Elizabeth Key Grinstead, who was of African and English descent and in 1656 became one of the first women in the North American colonies to sue for her freedom and win.

Challenging Slavery and Segregation

Another prominent Black woman in U.S. legal history was Harriet Robinson Scott, who tried to gain her freedom for many years. Ms. Kramer shared the story of Harriet and her husband, Dred Scott, who filed separate lawsuits for their freedom. Their cases were combined by the Missouri Supreme Court, but only Dred Scott’s name lived on in the title of the infamous case that went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, a decision in which the Scotts lost their fight for freedom and that intensified national divisions over slavery.

Ms. Dixon then guided the viewers through the next era of Black women in U.S. legal history by discussing the women who challenged segregation, including a look at Mary Ellen Pleasant, who successfully sued to win the right to ride on cable cars in San Francisco.

Women’s Suffrage and Civil Rights Contributors

Ms. Dixon and Ms. Kramer went on to discuss women who were involved in the women’s suffrage movement. “With respect to the Black women in the movement, many were involved. But essentially, a lot of them have been ignored and their stories have been erased,” said Ms. Dixon, who discussed the key contributions of Sojourner Truth and Ida B. Wells-Barnett.

As the Civil Rights era dawned, 11 years before Rosa Parks’ pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott, there was Irene Morgan, who in 1944 refused to move from her seat on a Greyhound bus in Virginia and was presented with an arrest warrant. She appealed her conviction for violating Virginia’s segregation law, and took it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court, which found that the law enforcing segregation on interstate buses was illegal.

“I love this woman,” Ms. Kramer said of Ms. Morgan. “She tears up the paper, she throws it out the window. This is pretty heroic and fearless.”

Sarah Keys, who served in the Women’s Army Corps, was involved in a similar case in 1952.

In the early 1960s, racial segregation was gripping American society and Jim Crow laws were being violently enforced in the South. In May 1961, 13 people (10 men and 3 women) headed to a large rally in New Orleans and became known as the first Freedom Riders. Mae Francis Moultrie Howard, a 24-year-old Morris College student who joined the ride in South Carolina, was the only African American female on the original Congress of Racial Equality (CORE) Freedom Ride, suffering severe smoke inhalation during the firebombing of the bus near Anniston, Alabama.

One thing Ms. Dixon pointed out was that, despite the many hardships all of these women faced, their journeys still continued. They had to keep moving forward, and that has led to progress for all Black women.

Firsts in the Law

During the last portion of their presentation, Ms. Dixon and Ms. Kramer shared the stories of Black women who made their marks as the first to accomplish key milestones in the legal industry, including Charlotte Ray, who was the first African American woman admitted to practice law in the U.S., and Constance Baker Motley, the first African American judge in the federal judiciary.

“I like to think I had heard Constance Baker Motley as a little girl growing up in New York City,” said Ms. Kramer. “And maybe I did and maybe that influenced me, along with having Shirley Chisholm as a [U.S.] representative there. But the truth is, the first time I recall hearing of her was in law school in connection with her response to a motion to recuse herself in the case of Blank vs. Solomon & Cromwell – a landmark case for women lawyers.”

Historic 2020 Election

Ms. Dixon and Ms. Kramer said that the journey that all of these remarkable Black women took has led to the accomplishments of politicians such as Vice President Kamala Harris and Stacey Abrams. Today, they said, it seems almost commonplace for Black women to hold such roles, but it took a journey with many struggles to get to this point.

“If you look through history, you will recognize … that their rise and prominence in politics today is not accidental,” said Ms. Dixon. “Rather, it serves as a part of a rich and long history of Black women who have fought for equality within Black communities.”

A Conversation with Jeff Hobbs: The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace

Author Jeff Hobbs spoke with Holland & Knight Partner Loren Forrest (NYC), co-chair of the firm’s Black Affinity Group, to discuss his New York Times bestseller The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace. In the book, published in 2015, Mr. Hobbs shares the story of his college roommate and close friend, Robert Peace, who was tragically shot twice by two men in ski masks in his basement on May 18, 2011.

Jeff Hobbs, left, and Loren Forrest

“It seemed like life was long and that there would always be a reunion down the road, but we didn’t have time,” said Mr. Hobbs. In the Feb. 16 webinar, Mr. Hobbs discussed the most frequent questions he gets asked: Why was Robert killed and why did he write the book? Although Mr. Hobbs still struggles to answer both questions, he did say that he saw value in sharing Mr. Peace’s story.

Mr. Peace, who grew up in the slums of Newark, New Jersey, became a brilliant student who attended Yale University. Mr. Hobbs said that Mr. Peace carried a huge set of discomforts going to Yale as a Black man but overcame all of his challenges and anxieties.

“When we watched him receive his diploma in the spring of 2002, he seemed destined, maybe even chosen to fulfill all these dreams he had and all these dreams others had for him,” Mr. Hobbs said. “He fulfilled a lot.”What started out as a two-week project compiling stories for Mr. Peace’s high school newsletter turned into a three-year endeavor for Mr. Hobbs in which he received stories from 80 to 90 people about Peace’s life and impact.

As the stories accumulated, Mr. Hobbs saw patterns throughout Mr. Peace’s life of enduring conflicts in race, class, drugs, community, imprisonment, education, family, friendship and love. Mr. Peace was a man who had influenced a lot of people.

“He made the people who knew him better, and he did that for me. That’s why I wrote the book. [I thought] maybe he could keep doing that,” said Mr. Hobbs.

Lara Rios The discussion opened up to a Q&A session that included comments and questions from Holland & Knight Partners Lara Rios (MIA/NYC), who attended Yale with both Mr. Hobbs and Mr. Peace, as well as Barbra Parlin, Duvol Thompson (both NYC) and Ashley Shively (SFO).

ROUNDUP

Partner Marilyn Holifield Helps Celebrate Black Excellence at University of Miami Event

Partner Marilyn Holifield (MIA) joined notable institutional, student and alumni leaders as a panelist for “Our Story: Black Excellence,” a Feb. 18-20 virtual forum hosted by the University of Miami’s Black Marilyn Holifield Alumni Society. Participants had the opportunity to learn, engage and grow through a series of thought-provoking sessions reflecting on the challenges, truths and triumphs often experienced within the Black community.

The Critical Importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities

In honor of Black History Month, Holland & Knight hosted “Historically Black Colleges and Universities’ Critical Importance in Society.” During the Feb. 22 live webinar, Associate Jessica Farmer (WAS) Jessica Farmer moderated a discussion with Dr. Herman Felton Jr., the 17th president and CEO of Wiley College. During the discussion, Dr. Felton shared his personal story of how he got his start in higher education and what inspired him to do so. Specifically, Dr. Felton talked about the importance of Wiley College’s 1935 speech and debate team, which inspired the 2007 film “The Great Debaters.” “I think debate equips our young men and women to have the mental requisite to listen and to counter in a way that says, ‘I hear you. However, I disagree,’ or ‘I hear you. Let me strengthen that argument by adding this to the fold.’ “

Black Law Students Shown Pathway to Partnership

Attorneys from several Holland & Knight offices teamed up with the Southern, Southwest and Midwest Regions of the National Black Law Students Association to participate in a virtual “Pathway to Partner” program. About 30 Black pre-law and law students, representing nearly a dozen colleges from across the country, attended the Jan. 9 event. The panel discussions focused on several relevant topics, including diversity and the current legal landscape, how large law firms approach diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, how law students can prepare for a career in private practice, what the firm’s Black attorneys wish they knew before they started at the firm, finding the formula for success in your practice and at your firm, and best practices for obtaining promotions and achieving partnership.

Schools represented included the Charleston School of Law, Emory University, Florida A&M University, Georgetown University, Georgia State University, John Marshall Law School, Mercer University, Nova Southeastern University, the University of Florida and the University of Miami.