The Washington Bar Association, Inc. 2021 Virtual

THE WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION, INC.

2021 VIRTUAL ANNUAL CONFERENCE, MEETING & DR. J. CLAY SMITH EQUAL JUSTICE LECTURE

HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY

“THE CHALLENGE OF BLACKNESS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY: CONTINUING THE STRUGGLE TO PRESERVE AND EXPAND THE HOUSTONIAN JURISPRUDENCE OF EQUAL JUSTICE”

Tuesday, June 10, 2021 The Nation’s Capital Washington, District of Columbia In the Year 244 of Our Nation

WBA PAST PRESIDENTS

1st George E.C Hayes, Esq. 1925-1928 26th Ruth Hankins-Nesbitt, Esq. 1974-1976 2nd Sylvester McLaurin, Esq. 1928-1930 27th Melvin J. Washington, Esq. 1976-1978

3rd Charles H. Houston, Esq. 1930-1932 28th J. Clay Smith, Jr., Esq. 1978-1980 4th Charles E. Robinson, Esq. 1932-1933 29th Thomas A. Duckenfield, Esq. 1980-1982

5th Augustus Gray, Esq. 1933-1934 30th Iverson O. Mitchell, III, Esq. 1982-1984 6th Thurman L. Dodson, Esq. 1934-1936 31st John A. Turner, Sr., Esq. 1984-1986

7th William L. Houston, Esq. 1936-1938 32nd Nathaniel H. Speights, Esq. 1986-1988 8th Henry L. Johnson, Jr., Esq. 1938-1940 33rd Keith W. Watters, Esq. 1988-1990

9th James A. Cobb, Esq. 1940-1942 34th Wendell W. Webster, Esq. 1990-1991 10th Richard L. Atkinson, Esq. 1942-1944 35th Belva D. Newsome, Esq. 1991-1993

11th George A. Parker, Esq. 1944-1946 36th Michael M. Hicks, Esq. 1993-1995 12th William A. Powell, Esq. 1946-1948 37th Ronald C. Crump, Esq. 1995-1997

13th Maurice R. Weeks, Esq. 1948-1950 38th Michael S. Rosier, Esq. 1997-1999 14th Leroy H. McGivney, Esq. 1950-1952 39th Donald A. Thigpen, Jr., Esq. 1999-2001

15th Joel D. Blackwell, Esq. 1952-1954 40th Kim M. Keenan, Esq. 2001-2003 16th William S. Thompson, Esq. 1954-1956 41st Felicia L. Chambers, Esq. 2003-2005

17th George B. Parks, Esq. 1956-1958 42nd Kevin D. Judd, Esq. 2005-2007 18th DeLong Harris, Esq. 1958-1960 43rd Robert L. Bell, Esq. 2007-2008

19th E. Lewis Farrell, Esq. 1960-1962 44th Ronald C. Jessamy, Sr., Esq. 2008-2010 20th John D. Fauntleroy, Sr., Esq. 1962-1963 45th Iris McCollum Green, Esq. 2010-2012

21st Frederick H. Evans, Esq. 1964-1966 46th William “Billy” Martin, Esq. 2012-2014 22nd James W. Cobb, Esq. 1966-1968 47th Karen E. Evans, Esq. 2014-2016

23rd Alexander Benton, Esq. 1968-1970 48th Natalie S. Walker, Esq. 2016-2018 th 24th Bruce R. Harrison, Esq. 1970-1972 49 Nicole Austin-Hillery, Esq. 2018-2019 th 25th John McDaniel, Jr., Esq. 1972-1974 50 Henry E. Floyd, Jr., Esq. 2019-2020

THE WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION, INC. (An Affiliate of the National Bar Association)

Founded 1925 (Incorporated May 26, 1926)

THE FOUNDERS

Ulysses Simpson Garnes Isaiah Lisemby George E.C. Hayes Louis Rothschild Mehlinger Charles Hamilton Houston Charles E. Robinson J. Franklin Wilson

OFFICERS 2020-2021

James Anthony “Tony” Towns, Esquire, President & CEO Kendra Perkins Norwood, Esquire, President-Elect Dionna Maria Lewis, Esquire, Vice President Darnellena “Christie” Burnett, Esquire, Treasurer Hon. Arien Cannon, Secretary

BOARD OF DIRECTORS 2020- 2021

James Anthony “Tony” Towns, Esquire, President & CEO Kendra Perkins Norwood, Esquire, President-Elect Hon. Errol Arthur Darnellena “Christie” Burnett, Esquire Hon. Arien Cannon Alexandra Cohen, Esquire Vincent H. Cohen, Jr., Esquire Akua Coppock, Esquire Eric Glover, Esquire Brenda Keels, Esquire Dionna M. Lewis, Esquire Hon. H. Alexander Manuel Alfreda Robinson, Esquire Wendell W. Webster, Esquire

COUNCIL OF PAST PRESIDENTS

Henry E. Floyd, Jr., Esquire Nicole Austin-Hillery, Esquire Natalie S. Walker, Esquire Karen E. Evans, Esquire William R. “Billy” Martin, Esquire

WBA Historian Robert L. Bell, Esquire

WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION, INC. 2021 ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Thursday, June 10, 2021

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

5:00 p.m. Registration, Opening Remarks and Greetings

5:00 – 5:15 p.m. Presidential Welcome, Invocation, Greetings & Acknowledgment of 2021 Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion Recipients

5:15 – 5:25 p.m. Opening Address by The Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Delegate, U.S. House of Representatives (D.C.)

DR. J. CLAY SMITH MEMORIAL EQUAL JUSTICE LECTURE & SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

5:30 – 6:00 p.m. Dr. Genna Rae McNeil, Fourth Annual WBA Annual Dr. J. Clay Smith Memorial Equal Justice Lecture

“The death of Frederick Douglass in 1895 marked the end of one era and the beginning of a new era for the black lawyer, for Douglass had been the primary and most forceful voice of black America heard by the judiciary, even though he was not a lawyer.”

J. Clay Smith, Jr., Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer 1844-1944 (1993)

6:00 – 6:10 p.m. Fourth Annual Dr. J. Clay Smith Memorial Equal Justice Scholar’s Award

ANNUAL MEETING, HALL OF FAME CEREMONY, AWARDS PRESENTATION

6:10 – 6:35 p.m. Annual Meeting, Elections, Adoption of Resolutions

6:35 – 6:45 p.m. INTERMISSION

6:45 – 7:15 p.m. Hall of Fame Inductions & Awards Ceremony

7:15 – 7:30 p.m. 2020-2021 Presidential Awards & Final Remarks of WBA 51st President Tony Towns

7:30 – 7:35 p.m. Installation of Officers

7:35 – 7:40 p.m. Passing of Gavel and Remarks by WBA 52nd President Kendra Perkins Norwood

7:40 – 8:00 p.m. DJ Message-Music Reception

ADJOURNMENT 3

CALL TO COMMEMORATION

We are pleased and honored to greet you on behalf of the Washington Bar Association. We are equally as happy to open our 2021 Virtual Annual Conference with the theme:

“THE CHALLENGE OF BLACKNESS IN AMERICAN DEMOCRACY: CONTINUING THE STRUGGLE TO PRESERVE AND EXPAND THE HOUSTONIAN JURISPRUDENCE OF EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW”

Since 1925, the Washington Bar Association has provided leadership in the struggle to make the promise of equal justice under law a reality for all. Prior to the emergence of Houstonian Jurisprudence, the reality of justice for Black Americans was haunted by the specter of the Black Codes, as well as the Dred Scott v. Sandford (1857) and Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) cases. This was true notwithstanding the outcome of the Civil War and the existence of the Civil War Amendments. No one has articulated the enduring challenge of blackness in our American Democracy better than Frederick Douglass in the 19th Century: “[W]hether ‘American justice, American liberty, American civilization, American law, and American Christianity could be made to include and protect alike forever all American citizens in the rights which have been guaranteed to them by the organic and fundamental laws of the land.’” Rayford Logan, The Betrayal of the Negro: From Rutherford B. Hayes to Woodrow Wilson (1965) (quoting Frederick Douglass). Lest we forget, in 1895, we have the death of Douglass and the birth of a beacon of equal justice named Charles Hamilton Houston (“CHH”). It was the symbolic passing of an equal justice advocacy baton to black lawyers to understand, embrace and pursue equal justice principles under law, which was later exemplified by the work and life of Charles Hamilton Houston, particularly, his admonition that: “There should be a three-ringed fight going on at all times.”

Since this peculiar nadir around the turn of the 20th century, from Plessy, black folk and friends stood up, especially black lawyers, and organized and prepared themselves for making our own case for equal justice under law for all. It was this attention to organization, preparation and struggle that took us from Plessy to Brown v. Board of Education (1954). Yet, despite the life, works and victories of the WBA’s Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit recipients, such as, Thurgood Marshall, Robert Carter, Constance Baker Motley, Martin Luther King, Jr., Dorothy I. Height, John Lewis, and many others, we are confronted in 2021 with state legislatures around the country engaged in throw-back voter suppression tactics designed to frustrate and hinder voters of color. It appears that the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision gutting the preclearance provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in Shelby County v. Holder (2013), resurrected the latent jurisprudence of the Dred Scott and Plessy, and forced us to confront once again Douglass’ 19th century question in the 21st century. In other words, can we expect and get equal justice in American Democracy without Houstonian Jurisprudence? That is the challenge of blackness in American today. CHH Medallion of Merit recipient Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s dissent in Shelby County states succinctly the assault on Houstonian Jurisprudence, as follows: “Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”

Moreover, Vernon E. Jordan, another CHH Medallion of Merit recipient, tells a most revealing story of how white supremacy impacted black citizens in Marengo County, Alabama before there was a Voting Rights Act of 1965. Let’s listen to Vernon Jordan tell:

the true story of a 92-year-old black man who registered to vote just days after passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 * * * * When that old man, dressed in his Sunday best, reached the registration official’s desk, the federal examiner asked him: “Why didn’t you ever register before?” And the old man answered “I never believed in putting 4

myself in the way of trouble-a-comin’.” He was then asked: “Why are you here now, after 92 years?” And he responded: “I am here today after 92 years ‘cause trouble ain’t-a-comin’ like it used to did.”

Vernon E. Jordan, Jr., Civil Rights: Revolution and Counter-Revolution, 14 Col. Human R. L. Rev. 1, 4 (1982). Thus, similar to the adverse impact of Dred Scott and Plessy, Shelby County is a harbinger from the U.S. Supreme Court that an assault on Houstonian Jurisprudence is underway and that “trouble is-a-comin'” once again. CHH Medallion of Merit recipient John Lewis clearly saw the “trouble-a-comin'” and put himself in its way with his belief and practice of non- violent resistance, or “Good Trouble.”

Accordingly, with no illusions about the nation’s retreat from Houstonian Jurisprudence in the highest court of the land, and in state legislatures across the country, we will pause today to kick open this year’s WBA Annual Conference with “Good Trouble” from U.S. House Representative Eleanor Holmes Norton (D. C.) addressing the District of Columbia’s quest for Statehood. Afterward, the renowned historian and thought leader, Dr. Genna Rae McNeil, Author, Groundwork: Charles Hamilton Houston and the Struggle for Civil Rights (1983), will present the WBA’s Fourth Annual Dr. J. Clay Smith Memorial Equal Justice Lecture.

Immediately after the Fourth Annual Dr. J. Clay Smith Equal Justice Lecture and Scholar’s Award, we will move to an unusual feature of this year’s Annual Conference with an acknowledgement of the 2021 recipients of the WBA’s coveted Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit. Due to the impact of the coronavirus (COVID-19), the WBA was forced to have its Annual Law Day Dinner virtually for the first time since its inception in 1976. As a result, this year’s recipients of the WBA’s Houston Medallions of Merit were deprived of the customary celebratory gala. Thus, tonight, we will briefly recognize the WBA’s 2021 Houston Medallions of Merit recipients: Donald M. Temple, Esquire and Dean Everett Bellamy. Congratulations to our 2021 CHH Medallion of Merit honorees!

Next, we will move to the WBA Annual Meeting and conduct the elections of WBA Officers and Board members for the 2021-2022 bar year. The Nominations and Elections Committee is chaired by Iris McCollum Green. During the Annual Meeting, we will also consider two important Resolutions: (1) Resolution in Support of Statehood for the District of Columbia, and (2) Resolution to Commemorate our beloved late Joseph H. Hairston, Esquire for his enduring, substantial contributions to the WBA. Ronald C. Jessamy, Sr. chaired the Joseph Hairston Resolution Committee and Bradley A. Thomas chaired the D.C. Statehood Resolution Committee.

After the Annual Meeting, we will shift into another highlight of the evening with our Annual Hall of Fame Ceremony. This year’s WBA Hall of Fame Selection Committee was tasked with the responsibility of evaluating and selecting the lawyers deemed worthy for inclusion into the WBA Hall of Fame Class of 2021. The members of the 2021 Hall of Fame Selection Committee were: the Hon. Errol Arthur, Robert L. Bell, Alexandra Cohen and Jamaca Mitchell. Thus, on behalf of the WBA President, WBA Board of Directors and the WBA membership, we are happy that you have chosen to join us today in honoring our highly-esteemed Class of 2021 WBA Hall of Fame inductees: Karl A. Racine, D.C. Attorney General and Joyce A. Mitchell, Esquire. Congratulations to the inductees into the WBA Hall of Fame Class of 2021!

Finally, we thank each of you who have contributed to the success of this year’s activities and events, especially the WBA members, Officers, and the separate Board of Directors of both the WBA and the Washington Bar Association Educational Foundation (“WBAEF”). In addition, we thank those tasked with pulling together the various aspects of this year’s events, programs and Annual Conference, including, but not limited to, James Anthony “Tony” Towns, WBA President; Kendra Perkins Norwood, WBA President-Elect; Jason Grant, President, WBAEF; Hon. Errol Arthur, Chair, WBA Judicial Council; Alexandra Cohen, Chair, WBA Young Lawyers’ Division; Brenda Keels, Chair, WBA Law Students’ Division; Jamaca Mitchell, the Hon. Arien Cannon, Akua Coppock, the Hon. H. Alexander Manuel, Wendell W. Webster, Natalie S. Walker, Karen E. Evans, Dean Alfreda Robinson, Donald A. Thigpen, Jr., Henry E. Floyd, Jr., Brand Nu Media Group and many others. Special thanks to WBA Past Presidents Felicia L. Chambers and Ronald C. Jessamy, Sr., for their leadership and hard work on all aspects of the 2021 Annual Conference.

Robert L. Bell, Chair, 2021 WBA Annual Conference Committee June 10, 2021 Washington, District of Columbia 5

EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW

THE WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION, INC. OPENING ADDRESS 5:15 p.m.

Thursday, June 10, 2021

Tony Towns, Presiding President & CEO, Washington Bar Association

Introduction of Speaker……………………………………………………………… Bradley C. Thomas, Esquire

Speaker……………………………………………………………… The Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton, Delegate, U.S. House of Representatives (D.C.)

Opening Address…………………………………………………Statehood for Washington, District of Columbia

THE HONORABLE ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON

EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW

THE WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION, INC. & THE WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION EDUCATIONAL FOUNDATION, INC. FOURTH ANNUAL DR. J. CLAY SMITH MEMORIAL EQUAL JUSTICE LECTURE 5:30 p.m.

Thursday, June 10, 2021

Call to Order and Welcome…………………………………………………Tony Towns, WBA President & CEO

Presentation on Behalf of Family of Dr. J. Clay Smith

Introduction of Speaker………………………………………………………Robert L. Bell, 43rd WBA President

Fourth Annual Dr. J. Clay Smith Memorial Equal Justice Lecturer…………………………………………………………………..………………Dr. Genna Rae McNeill

Question and Answer Period PRESENTATION OF THE FOURTH ANNUAL DR. J. CLAY SMITH MEMORIAL EQUAL JUSTICE SCHOLAR’S AWARD

Presenters…………………………………………………………………..Henry E. Floyd, Jr., 50th WBA President, Chair, Scholarship, Committee, WBA Educational Foundation, Inc. and Dean Danielle R. Holley-Walker, Howard University School of Law

Remarks by Dr. J. Clay Smith Equal Justice Student Scholar Awardee….. ………………………Makala McNeil

DR. J. CLAY SMITH MEMORIAL EQUAL JUSTICE LECTURE

DR. J. CLAY SMITH

April 15, 1942 - February 15, 2018

28th President, Washington Bar Association (1978-1980)

25th Dean, Howard University School of Law (1986-1988)

“After Douglass died, it was left to the black lawyer to give meaning to his words in all public forums.”

J. Clay Smith, Jr., Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer: 1844-1944 (1993)

DR. GENNA RAE MCNEIL FOURTH ANNUAL DR. J. CLAY SMITH MEMORIAL EQUAL JUSTICE LECTURER

BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE OF DR. GENNA RAE MCNEIL

Genna Rae McNeil is Professor Emerita of History at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and a scholar of African-American and U.S. Constitutional history. She is widely known for her American Bar Association prize-winning Groundwork: Charles Hamilton Houston and the Struggle for Civil Rights, recognized as the definitive biography of Houston, Thurgood Marshall’s forerunner, law school dean, and mentor. Professor McNeil has served as a visiting professor at Brooklyn College and Howard University School of Law. As Professor of History and Law at Howard, she was honored to be the junior colleague of the inimitable J. Clay Smith, Jr., and she taught jurisprudence as well as constitutional history. As historian of record, she submitted with Professor Smith, Professor Herbert O. Reid, and other law school faculty to the Supreme Court of the United States two amicus curiae briefs in the landmark case of the Regents of the University of California v. Allan Bakke. With particular interest in public history pertaining to African American attorneys, Professor McNeil has served as a consultant to the Damon J. Keith Collection of Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan and she was the historian of record for "Marching Toward Justice," the inaugural exhibition of the Thurgood Marshall Federal Judiciary Building in Washington, D.C., an exhibit curated by Robert Smith.

Professor McNeil is lead author of Witness: Two Centuries of African American Faith and Practice at the Abyssinian Baptist Church of Harlem, New York, 1808-2008 with co-authors Houston B. Robeson, Quinton Dixie, and Kevin McGruder. She is, as well, co-editor of three volumes: with John Hope Franklin, African Americans and the Living Constitution; with Howard University’s Professor Emeritus Michael R. Winston, Historical Judgments Reconsidered and with University of California’s Professor Emeritus V. P. Franklin, African Americans and Jews in the Twentieth Century. Her publications also include numerous articles, book 9

chapters and essays. Professor McNeil is currently completing a book-length study of State [of North Carolina] vs. Joan Little and the “free Joan Little” Movement.

Dr. McNeil attended John Muir High School and was graduated from The Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena, California. She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Kalamazoo College in Michigan, and she earned her Master of Arts and Ph.D. degrees in United States and African-American History at the University of Chicago, where her adviser was the eminent John Hope Franklin. She has worked as an archivist at the New York Public Library’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, served as the national Ecumenical Officer and Deputy General Secretary of the American Baptist Churches in the USA (then a multi-racial denomination of more than 1.3 million), and chaired the Howard University Department of History.

Professor McNeil was born in Texas and is one of four children of Jesse Jai McNeil, Sr., Ed.D., formerly a pastor, author, and professor, and of Pearl Lee Walker McNeil, Ph.D., formerly a community activist, ecumenist, professor and author.

Honoring the sacrifices of the ancestors on whose shoulders she stands and following in the vocational footsteps of her educator-parents, Professor McNeil has devoted her life to telling the truths of African American history, doing justice, and working for transformation by encouraging all under her tutelage to be history-makers who, as an ancient proverb states, “plant trees under the shade of which they do not expect to sit.”

MAKALA McNEIL DR. J. CLAY SMITH EQUAL JUSTICE STUDENT SCHOLAR AWARDEE

BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE OF MAKALA McNEIL

McNeil, a first-generation law student and Mississippi native, graduated cum laude from the University of Mississippi with double Bachelor’s Degrees in Sociology and Integrated Marketing Communications and a minor in Business Administration. In her last year attending the University, she was named a Hall of Fame recipient, which is the highest honor afforded to a graduating senior.

Before attending law school, she worked as a legislative aid for the Mississippi State Senate who supported senators, staff attorneys, and constituents on state and local legislative matters.

At Howard University School of Law, she served as a member of the Huver I. Brown Trial Advocacy Moot Court Team, ultimately becoming its President in her last year; student attorney at the Fair Housing Clinic; student assistant for the Clinical Law Center; teaching assistant for a first-year Contracts course; and Social Action Chair for the Student Bar Association. She also had the privilege of being an oral advocate for the 2020 National All- Star Bracket Challenge competition and the 2021 American Association for Justice’s Student Trial Advocacy Competition.

McNeil is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated.

WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION, INC. DR. J. CLAY SMITH MEMORIAL EQUAL JUSTICE GALLERY

DR. J. CLAY SMITH MEMORIAL EQUAL JUSTICE LECTURERS

2018 - Robert L. Bell, Esquire 2019 - Nkechi Taifa, Esquire 2020 - Danielle R. Holley-Walker, Dean, Howard Law School

DR. J. CLAY SMITH MEMORIAL EQUAL JUSTICE SCHOLARSHIP AWARDEES

2018 - Quiana D. Harris 2019 - 2020 - Ashlyne J. Polynice

2021 SPONSORS OF THE DR. J. CLAY SMITH MEMORIAL EQUAL JUSTICE LECTURE AND SCHOLARSHIP AWARD

Keith W. Watters, Esq. Robert L. Bell, Esq. Wendell W. Webster, Esq. Ronald C. Jessamy, Sr. Michael M. Hicks, Esq. Iris McCollum Green, Esq. Michael S. Rosier, Esq. William “Billy” Martin, Esq. Donald A. Thigpen, Jr., Esq. Karen E. Evans, Esq. Kim M. Keenan, Esq. Natalie S. Walker, Esq. Felicia L. Chambers, Esq. Nicole Austin-Hillery, Esq. Kevin D. Judd, Esq. Henry E. Floyd, Jr., Esq. Sigma Delta Tau Legal Fraternity, Inc.

THE WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION, INC. ANNUAL MEETING 6:10 P.M.

Thursday, June 10, 2021

Tony Towns, Presiding President & CEO, Washington Bar Association, Inc.

AGENDA

Call to Order and Welcome…………………………………………………Tony Towns, WBA President & CEO

Report of Nominations and Elections Committee………………………………….. Iris McCollum Green, Esquire 45th WBA President

Election of WBA Officers and Directors………………………….…… …………Iris McCollum Green, Presiding 45th WBA President Presentation of Resolutions for Adoption by the General Body

Resolution To Commemorate Joseph Henry Hairston Karen E. Evans, Presiding, WBA Treasurer Emeritus (Posthumously) 47th WBA President

Resolution in Support of Statehood Bradley C. Thomas, Presiding for Washington, District of Columbia

AWARDS AND INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS AND BOARD

Presentation of the 2020-2021 President’s Awards…………………………Tony Towns, WBA President & CEO

Installation of 2021-2022 WBA Officers and Board Members………………………………………… …………… Hon. Reggie B. Walton Senior Judge, U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia

Passing of Gavel and Remarks………………………………Kendra Perkins Norwood, 52nd WBA President & CEO

ADJOURNMENT

THE WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION, INC. HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY

6:45 P.M.

Thursday, June 10, 2021

Tony Towns, Presiding President & CEO, Washington Bar Association

PROGRAM

Welcome…………………………………………………………………...Robert L. Bell, 43rd WBA President and Chair, Hall of Fame Committee

Hall of Fame Induction……………………………………………………….Tony Towns, WBA President & CEO

HALL OF FAME HONOREES: PRESENTERS:

CLASS OF 2021

JOYCE A. G. MITCHELL, ESQUIRE……………………………………Robert L. Bell, 43rd WBA President

THE HONORABLE KARL A. RACINE……………………………..……Akua Coppock, Esquire

JOYCE A. G. MITCHELL, ESQUIRE

BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE OF JOYCE A. G. MITCHELL, ESQUIRE

Joyce A. G. Mitchell is an attorney licensed in Maryland and the District of Columbia. She is a Distinguished Fellow and a Board Member of the International Academy of Mediators. Ms. Mitchell has been the president of Joyce A. Mitchell and Associates since its inception in 1982. She is a certified mediator in the states of Virginia and North Carolina.

Ms. Mitchell is a nationally-recognized attorney and professional in the field of alternative dispute resolution (“ADR”). She has been an arbitrator since 1997, when she began her volunteer service with the Better Business Bureau. She has served as an arbitrator on several national arbitrator commercial and employment panels and now arbitrates for the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”), the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) and CPR the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (“CPR”). Over the years, she has arbitrated numerous complex securities, employment, and business matters. Her training in labor arbitration was with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. Her commercial arbitration training was with and is ongoing with AAA, FINRA and CPR. She has served as a Panel Chair for both organizations. Ms. Mitchell has completed more than 120 hours of arbitration training. She has taught arbitration as an adjunct at the Carey School of Law for eight years.

Ms. Mitchell has been practicing mediation since 1996, and has mediated more than 2000 cases. She is a certified mediator in the states of Virginia and North Carolina. She mediates for the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the Maryland Department of Agriculture mediation program and FINRA. Ms. Mitchell is on the roster of mediators for several ADR private dispute resolution providers and mediates for them nationwide for other federal agencies. She is a skilled negotiator and has had more than 400 hours of conflict resolution, and multi-party facilitation in various subject areas, levels, and mediation approaches. She conducts multi-party facilitation sessions, early neutral evaluations, organizational and management inquiries, fact-finding and speaks regularly at various professional associations’ meetings on the uses on alternative dispute resolution techniques.

From 2002 -2012, Ms. Mitchell taught ADR Techniques as an adjunct at the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University in Washington, D.C. Ms. Mitchell provides conflict resolution trainings to groups. She served as co- trainer for five years for the 40-hour Basic Mediation Training of the Maryland State Bar Association (“MSBA”). She is a former Chair of the MSBA ADR Section, Co-Chair of the ADR Section of the Bar Association of Montgomery County, MD, and 2nd Vice Chair of the ADR Section of the National Bar Association.

In addition to her current expertise and success in the field of arbitration and mediation, Ms. Mitchell is a true trailblazer in the field of minority business enterprises (“MBEs”). She used the law, and her work in the legal profession, to expand the view that promoting MBEs is a civil rights and equal justice issue. Ms. Mitchell’s early expertise with MBEs began as a staff member on the President’s Advisory Council on Minority Business Enterprise. She assisted in both research and editing the influential report of the President’s Advisory Council - Minority Business Enterprise and Expanded Ownership, a Blueprint for the 70’s - which made recommendations for improving the success and growth of MBEs, including ways to improve the trade associations to which MBEs belonged.

Ms. Mitchell helped to implement the vital recommendations of the MBE Advisory Council by joining the legal staff of the national headquarters of the Office of Minority Business Enterprise (“OMBE”), U.S. Department of Commerce. As a national leader in advancing OMBE’s mission and national strategy to promote minority business development and to broaden MBE’s access to startup capital, she persuaded OMBE’s leadership that attorneys of color were also entrepreneurs and their associations, e.g., the National Bar Association (“NBA”), should receive programmatic and administrative support. She remains committed to both the NBA and the Washington Bar Association and encourages other lawyers to join and be active in these critical and vital bar associations of color.

THE HONORABLE KARL A. RACINE

BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE OF THE HONORABLE KARL A. RACINE

Karl A. Racine was sworn in as the District of Columbia’s first elected Attorney General in 2015 and was reelected to a second term in 2018. Attorney General Racine is honored to serve again and will use the next four years to expand work on priorities, including preserving affordable housing, employing evidence-based juvenile justice reforms, cracking down on slumlords, holding unscrupulous employers accountable for wage theft, and protecting consumers from scams and abusive business practices. He is also committed to making investments in new efforts to protect seniors and other vulnerable residents, interrupt violence in the District, address childhood trauma, and more.

Through his work as president of the bi-partisan National Association of Attorneys General and as Chair Emeritus of the Democratic Attorneys General Association's Executive Committee, Attorney General Racine also speaks out for D.C. autonomy at the national level and pushes back against federal government policies that harm District residents.

Attorney General Racine draws on over 25 years of legal and leadership experience in his work on behalf of District residents. Over the course of his career, he has worked at the D.C. Public Defender Service, where he represented District residents who could not afford a lawyer, served as Associate White House Counsel to President Bill Clinton, and worked on criminal cases and complex civil litigation at private firms. While in private practice, he was elected managing partner of his firm, Venable LLP, and became the first African-American managing partner of a top-100 American law firm.

In order to keep District residents safe and ensure our young people have a chance to succeed, Attorney General Racine has instituted several reforms to the juvenile justice system, including expanded options for rehabilitating low-risk juvenile offenders. One of these options, the Alternatives to Court Experience (ACE) Diversion program, has achieved early success with approximately 80 percent of participants not being re-arrested after completing the program. Under Attorney General Racine, the Office of the Attorney General (“OAG”) has increased participation in the program five-fold, positively impacting young lives and increasing public safety. Attorney General Racine has also helped end mandatory shackling of juveniles appearing before D.C. Superior Court and implemented a first-of-its kind restorative justice program.

To protect all District consumers, and especially vulnerable residents targeted by scammers, including seniors and immigrants, Attorney General Racine established the Office of Consumer Protection (“OCP”). OCP receives consumer complaints, mediates disputes, educates residents, and if necessary, files enforcement actions against individuals and companies who defraud District residents.

The current affordable housing crisis is one of the District’s most pressing problems, and Attorney General Racine is working to ensure that longtime residents can stay in their homes and benefit from our region’s economic boom. He has acted in numerous cases to crack down on slumlords and stand up for renters, preserving existing affordable housing and making sure that District residents have access to safe conditions in their homes.

Attorney General Racine is working to ensure that the District government serves residents and taxpayers. That is why he has supported comprehensive campaign finance reform. That’s also why he has bolstered the OAG’s efforts to fight fraud against District taxpayers and took action against non-residents who fraudulently enrolled their kids in D.C. schools, Certified Business Enterprises (“CBEs”) that made fraudulent claims fraud, and others.

Born in Haiti, Attorney General Racine came to the District at the age of three. He attended D.C. public schools, including Murch Elementary, Deal Junior High, and Wilson High, and graduated from St. John’s College High School. He earned a B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania, where he was captain of the basketball team, and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he volunteered in a legal clinic supporting the rights of migrant farm workers. His commitment to equal justice was inspired by his parents, who fled authoritarian rule in Haiti to start a better life in the United States, and by the lawyers of the Civil Rights Movement, who used the law to make positive social change.

Outside of his official role, Attorney General Racine remains involved with a variety of causes, including youth literacy and mentoring. He lives in Ward 3.

THE WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION, INC. Hall of Fame Gallery

1998 2009 Joseph H. Hairston Dean Everett Bellamy James W. Cobb* Robert E. Richardson

2000 2010 Simon L. Cain Professor Charles J. Ogletree, Jr Clinton Chapman Hon. William C. Pryor Jack H. Olender Elaine R. Jones Garland Pinkston 2002 Ronald Crump Hon. Julia Cooper Mack Hon. Herbert B. Dixon, Jr. Ruth Hankins Nesbitt* Weldon Latham 2011 George H. Windsor Robert L. Bell

2003 2012 Willie Cook Wendell W. Webster Allen T. Eaton Patricia Moore Rosier Hon. John Garrett Penn Bruce A. Fredrickson Hon. Inez Smith Reid Michael S. Rosier Hon. Mary A. Gooden Terrell Hon. Emmet G. Sullivan Hon. Susan R. Winfield 2014 Hon. Eric T. Washington Ronald C. Jessamy, Sr. 2004 Donald M. Temple Hon. Arthur L. Burnett Allie B. Lattimer 2015 Willie L. Leftwich Hon. Erik P. Christian Frederick D. Cooke, Jr. 2005 Hon. Anita Josey-Herring Hon. Annice Wagner Calvin Brooks 2016 Iris McCollum Green 2006 William P. Lightfoot Roberta Willis Simms Sandra H. Robinson Ruth R. Banks* David W. Wilmot Belva Newsome Grace E. Speights 2017 Nathaniel Speights Hon. Anna Blackburne-Rigsby William C.E. Robinson 2007 Donald Thigpen, Jr. Hon. Wendell P. Gardner 2018 2008 A Scott Bolden Hon. William E. Fowler Felicia L. Chambers Michael M. Hicks Kevin D. Judd Professor Henry Jones Hon. Rhonda Reid Winston Bobby B. Stafford 2019 Karen E. Evans William R. “Billy” Martin Keith W. Watters

2020 Dean John C. Brittain Kim M. Keenan *posthumously Anthony T. Pierce Benjamin F. Wilson 21

WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF STATEHOOD FOR WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

WHEREAS, the Washington Bar Association (“the WBA”) was founded in the Nation’s Capital, in 1925, on the principle of equal justice under law, by Ulysses Simpson Garnes, George E. C. Hayes, Charles Hamilton Houston, Isaiah Lisemby, Louis Rothschild Mehlinger, Charles E. Robinson and J. Franklin Wilson and was incorporated in Washington, D.C., on May 26, 1926;

WHEREAS, the WBA is one of the oldest affiliate chapters of the National Bar Association (“the NBA”), which was also founded in 1925;

WHEREAS, from its inception, the WBA has fully embraced and fought equally alongside the NBA to advance the science of jurisprudence; improve the administration of justice; preserve the independence of the judiciary; uphold the honor and integrity of the legal profession; promote professional and social intercourse among the members of the bars; promote legislation that will improve the economic condition of all American citizens regardless of race, sex or creed in their efforts to secure a free and untrammeled use of the franchise guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States; and protect the civil and political rights of the citizens and residents of the United States;

WHEREAS, among the founders of the WBA were the renowned civil rights lawyers Charles Hamilton Houston and George E.C. Hayes, both life-long residents of the District of Columbia;

WHEREAS, Houston laid the legal groundwork (“Houstonian Jurisprudence”) for abolishing de jure Jim Crow racial segregation in the District of Columbia and the Nation;

WHEREAS, after Houston’s death in 1950, George E.C. Hayes continued the work and strategy of Houston along with Thurgood Marshall and the cadre of lawyers trained and inspired by Houston until, on May 17, 1954, the judiciary embraced Houstonian Jurisprudence in the two landmark U.S. Supreme Court cases of Brown v. Board of Education (1954) and Bolling v. Sharpe (1954);

WHEREAS, the WBA recognizes the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and other courageous civil rights leaders for their embrace, and implementation, of the equal justice principles of Houstonian Jurisprudence across the Nation;

WHEREAS, the WBA acknowledges the 1955 emergence of Dr. King’s spiritual and moral leadership and strongly embraces his 1963 declaration that “injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere;”

WHEREAS, the District of Columbia (“the District”), which was founded under President George Washington in 1790, 231 years ago, is, in 2021, home to over 700,000 U.S. citizens;

WHEREAS, the current population of the District is larger than that of both Wyoming and Vermont and almost as large as that of Alaska and North Dakota;

WHEREAS, North Dakota, Alaska, Vermont and Wyoming each have two United States Senators and one Member of Congress representing them while the over 700,000 residents of the District have no voting representation in the National legislature;

WHEREAS, residents of the District pay more taxes, per capita, than the residents of every state in the United States of America, the high per capita income states of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York and New Jersey coming in second, third, fourth and fifth respectively;

WHEREAS, in fiscal year 2019, the most recent year for which audited data is now available, the federal government collected more total taxes from the District than from twenty-one states, specifically (from lowest to highest taxed) Vermont, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, North Dakota, West Virginia, South Dakota, Maine, Hawaii, New Mexico, Mississippi, Idaho, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Delaware, Nevada, Utah, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Alabama;

WHEREAS, the District’s residents have worn the uniform of the American Armed Services and served this Nation bravely in every U.S. military conflict since the War of 1812;

WHEREAS, because it is not a state, the District cannot even spend its own money, i.e. money that it raises from taxes and fees levied separate and apart from any federal payments or subsidies, without that spending authority being subject to Congressional scrutiny;

WHEREAS, because it is not a state, the District cannot pass any legislation to govern its own internal affairs without that legislation being subject to Congressional veto;

WHEREAS, the WBA acknowledges the mantra displayed on the license plates of most motor vehicles registered in the District “Taxation Without Representation;”

WHEREAS, the WBA, as a corporate citizen of Washington, D.C., views championing the cause of D.C. Statehood as consistent with the WBA’s objectives and purposes, specifically the objective of encouraging professional and citizenship responsibilities among its membership; WHEREAS, the WBA sees the issue of D.C. Statehood as one of fundamental fairness and equal protection under the law.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Washington Bar Association supports the call for Statehood for the District of Columbia as a fundamental, moral and equal justice imperative.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the WBA calls on the members of the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House of Representatives to enact whatever legislative measures are necessary to make Statehood a reality for the residents of the District of Columbia with all of the rights, privileges, duties and responsibilities pertaining thereto which are held and shared by the residents of each of the current fifty states of the United States of America.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the members and officers of the WBA pledge to remain committed to the cause of Statehood for the District of Columbia until such time as the goal of D.C. Statehood has been achieved and the WBA shall, from time-to-time, conduct appropriate activities in furtherance of that goal.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the WBA calls on other bar associations, on other professional and social organizations which share the WBA’s commitment to equal justice, and on people of good will across the spectrum of socio-economic, racial, ethnic, gender and sexual orientation diversity, to stand with the WBA in voicing unwavering support for D.C. Statehood.

BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED, that a physical or electronic copy of this resolution will be made available upon request, and without cost, to all WBA members (past, current and future), and all residents of the District of Columbia, and that it will be recorded in the WBA’s archives.

WE HEREBY CERTIFY, that this matter came before the Governing Body/Membership of the WBA at its duly- noticed and duly-called 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C., and that by a majority/unanimous vote of the membership convened, THIS RESOLUTION was approved and adopted on this ____ day of June, 2021.

By: This Resolution was drafted by the James Anthony Towns, President members of the WBA Ad Hoc DC Washington Bar Association Statehood Resolution Committee as commissioned by 2020-2021 WBA Attested and subscribed to: President James Anthony “Tony” Towns Bradley A. Thomas, Esq., Chair Robert L. Bell, Esq. By: Felicia L. Chambers, Esq. Arien Cannon, Secretary James Anthony “Tony” Towns, Esq. Washington Bar Association

RESOLUTION TO COMMEMORATE JOSEPH HENRY HAIRSTON, HIS LIFE, WORK AND MULTITUDINOUS CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NATION AND THE CAUSE OF EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW

JOSEPH HENRY HAIRSTON (1922-2019)

WHEREAS, the Washington Bar Association (“WBA”), a voluntary bar association consisting mainly of African American lawyers, judges, law professors and law students, was founded in the District of Columbia in 1925 and is dedicated to the principle of equal justice under law;

WHEREAS, Joseph Henry Hairston was born in Axton, Virginia in 1922 and would have celebrated the Centennial of his birth in 2022, three years before the WBA will celebrate the centennial of its founding in 2025;

WHEREAS, Joseph H. Hairston received in 2003, the Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit, the WBA’s highest award;

WHEREAS, the Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit is presented in honor of Charles Hamilton Houston, a brilliant and trailblazing lawyer who was the father of the Civil Rights Movement’s legal strategy and was one of the WBA’s founders;

WHEREAS, the WBA established the Houston Medallion of Merit in 1975, and annually presents this award to an individual who demonstrates a commitment to Charles Hamilton Houston’s ideals and who stands in the character and measure of Houstonian Jurisprudence;

WHEREAS, the character and measure of the life, work and prolific contributions of Joseph H. Hairston to the cause of Houstonian Jurisprudence and equal justice under law is underscored by the fact that he received every award and honor bestowed by the WBA, including, the Houston Medallion of Merit (2003); the Ollie May Cooper

Award (1998); induction into the WBA Hall of Fame (1998); and being named Treasurer and Parliamentarian Emerita;

WHEREAS, Joseph H. Hairston joined the Army of the United States; was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War; performed with distinction in the 92nd Division (“Buffalo Soldiers” Division); obtained the rank of Captain; became, among other things, the Army’s first African American helicopter pilot; and earned the Air Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster for heroism in rescuing and flying in battle;

WHEREAS, Joseph H. Hairston earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Maryland, a Juris Doctor degree from the American University Washington College of Law (at which the Black Alumni Association established the Hairston Alumni Award) and a LL.M degree from Georgetown University Law Center;

WHEREAS, after admission to the bar, Joseph H. Hairston became and remained an active member of the Washington Bar Association, the National Bar Association, the American Bar Association and Sigma Delta Tau Legal Fraternity;

WHEREAS, Joseph H. Hairston rendered outstanding leadership as an attorney with the Internal Revenue Service, becoming the first African American Senior Executive Service (“SES”) member in the Office of the Chief Counsel;

WHEREAS, Joseph H. Hairston demonstrated his leadership by serving on the Board of Directors of not only the Washington Bar Association and the National Bar Association, but also, on the boards of PEPCO, the Washington Gas Company, the Baptist Home, Neighbors, Inc., the Hairston Clan and Takoma Park Baptist Church, where he served as a long-time Sunday School Teacher;

WHEREAS, Joseph H. Hairston departed this life on December 23, 2019, and was interred with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery;

WHEREAS, Joseph H. Hairston is survived by his beloved wife of seventy-eight years Anna Hairston; three daughters - Naomi, JoAnn, Victoria; and four grandchildren - Deidra, Dawn, Nora, and Jeffrey; his daughter Nancy Ruth predeceased him;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the Washington Bar Association, in mourning Joseph H. Hairston’s passing, through the Select Committee of Washington Bar Association Past Presidents, will plan and host an appropriate major celebratory event honoring the centennial of Joseph H. Hairston’s birth in 2022; in recognizing his life, work and prolific contributions to the Washington Bar Association, the National Bar Association, and the legal profession, the WBA will establish and award the Inaugural Joseph H. Hairston Vanguard Award at this event; the Select Committee of WBA Past Presidents shall consider in its planning, ways and means for the WBA to ensure that Joseph H. Hairston shall be remembered, in a permanent, visible and physical way, in the minds, hearts and lives of the members of the Washington Bar Association, residents of the District of Columbia, and citizens of the United States of America;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Select Committee of WBA Past Presidents shall be immediately established to plan and to implement the celebration of the centennial of Joseph H. Hairston’s birth in 2022 and to serve as the harbinger of annual events leading to the centennial celebration of the founding of the Washington Bar Association in 2025;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that when reflecting on the purposeful life and legacy of Joseph H. Hairston, a true and authentic trailblazer, it is the clear intent of the members of the Washington Bar Association to memorialize forever Joseph H. Hairston’s kind, gentle and patient bearing, his intellectual prowess, his impeccable integrity and his stellar career in advancing causes in keeping with the goals and objectives of the Washington Bar Association in the pursuit of equal justice under law.

[A copy of this Resolution shall be presented to the family of Joseph H. Hairston and a copy shall be kept among the official records of the Washington Bar Association]

By: This Resolution was drafted by the James Anthony Towns, President members of the WBA Ad Hoc Joseph H. Washington Bar Association Hairston Resolution Committee as commissioned by 2020-2021 WBA Attested and subscribed to: President James Anthony “Tony” Towns Ronald C. Jessamy, Sr., Esq., Chair Robert L. Bell, Esq. By: Karen E. Evans, Esq Arien Cannon, Secretary Hon. H. Alexander Manuel Washington Bar Association Alfreda Robinson, Esq. Donald A. Thigpen, Jr., Esq. James Anthony “Tony” Towns, Esq.

THE WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION, INC.

THE CHARLES HAMILTON HOUSTON MEDALLION OF MERIT

Charles Hamilton Houston (1895-1950) (Co-Founder – The Washington Bar Association)

“There should be a three-ringed fight going on at all times.” Charles Hamilton Houston

THE CHARLES HAMILTON HOUSTON MEDALLION OF MERIT

The Houston Medallion of Merit is presented in honor of Charles Hamilton Houston, one of the founders of the Washington Bar Association. Houston was born in Washington, D.C. in 1895. He attended public schools in Washington, D.C. and after graduating from M Street High School, he attended Amherst College in Amherst, Massachusetts. At Amherst, Houston was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Houston graduated from Amherst in 1915 and later served as an officer in World War I.

In 1919, Houston entered Harvard Law School. He graduated from Harvard in 1922, after serving as the first Black member of the Harvard Law Review. After his graduation from law school, Houston studied international law in Spain for one year and later returned to Washington, D.C. to practice law with his father.

Houston was later appointed Vice Dean of Howard Law School. His efforts transformed Howard from a small, unaccredited night school to a fully-accredited institution which served as the law school for a generation of civil rights lawyers. Working with protégés such as Thurgood Marshall and Spottswood Robinson, Houston developed the strategy to use law and litigation to effectuate social change.

Houston amplified his efforts during his tenure as General Counsel to the NAACP. He first challenged the separate but equal doctrine by demonstrating that educational facilities for Black students were, in fact, far inferior to the facilities provided for white students. After years of litigation in several states, the Supreme Court ultimately discarded the separate but equal myth by holding in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), that racial segregation in public schools is, by definition, unequal and therefore, violated the Constitutional guarantee of equal protection under the law. Charles Hamilton Houston died in 1950, four years prior to the issuance of the Brown decision.

The Washington Bar Association established the tradition of awarding the Houston Medallion of Merit in 1975. The award is presented annually to an individual who demonstrates a commitment to Charles Hamilton Houston’s ideals and jurisprudence:

▼ A jurisprudence which observes and recognizes law as an organism for social justice through social engineering;

▼ A jurisprudence which espouses and demands scholarship, discipline, perseverance, vigilance and dedication in the totality of the legal, social and governmental framework;

▼ A jurisprudence which impels and challenges man to leadership and service for the betterment of the human race; and

▼ A jurisprudence which serves and operates through the instrumentality of law to disrobe and destroy the many perceived encumbrances and trappings of birth, origin, color, creed, or religion.

It is in the character and measure of Houstonian Jurisprudence that a recipient of the Medallion of Merit must stand.

“Do not lose heart if victory does not come at once. Preserve to the end.” Charles Hamilton Houston

“African-American lawyers have played a unique role in American history * * * * Long before the Civil Rights Movement ever crystallized the plight of African-Americans, Negro lawyers had identified the inequities in the legal order and begun to lay the foundation for social change. In storefront offices, over kitchen tables, and on porch steps, these lawyers worked diligently to protect and expand the rights of African-Americans and to ensure, case by case, that justice would not forever be delayed. Lawyers such as Macon Bolling Allen fought for and gained admission to the bar in 1844, overcoming widespread discrimination among state bar associations and securing for African-Americans an important foothold in the legal structure. Jonathan Jasper Wright became the first African-American justice of a state supreme court prior to 1945, despite resistance among whites. Professors and legal theorists at the nation’s African-American law schools, including my mentor at Howard University, Charles Hamilton Houston, worked tirelessly to educate and prepare young students to become skilled professionals and social engineers.” (Emphasis Added)

Justice Thurgood Marshall, Foreword, excerpts from J. Clay Smith, Jr., Emancipation: The Making of the Black Lawyer:1844-1944 (1993)

PAST RECIPIENTS OF THE WBA’S CHARLES HAMILTON HOUSTON MEDALLION OF MERIT *awarded posthumously

32 The Honorable The Honorable Elijah The Honorable Anna Cummins Blackburne-Rigsby Robert L. Wilkins 2019 2020* 2020

EVERETT BELLAMY, ESQUIRE 2021 RECIPIENT CHARLES HAMILTON HOUSTON MEDALLION OF MERIT CONFERRED DURING THE MAY 1, 2021 WBA/WBAEF LAW DAY DINNER

BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE OF EVERETT BELLAMY, ESQUIRE

Everett Bellamy has been in the forefront of higher education for 44 years. From 1980 to 2010, he served as an Assistant Dean for the Juris Doctor Program at Georgetown University Law Center. He also was an adjunct law professor at Georgetown, teaching a course on small business law and entrepreneurship for 28 years.

Bellamy has been involved with the Charles Hamilton Houston (“CHH”) Preparatory Law Institute for over 40 years. The CHH Institute, based at Georgetown University Law Center, has been preparing students for law school for 42 years, with a specific focus on African American students. He served as its executive director and taught legal analysis and writing.

He is a member of the American Bar Association, Business Law Section. For twelve years, he was co-chair of the National Bar Association Law Professors Division. In 1998, he taught a course on international business regulation at the European University Institute in Florence, Italy. He has advised small business owners and entrepreneurs for over 30 years. In 2009 and 2010, he attended the Northwestern School of Law, Serle Center on Law, Regulation, and Economic Growth Program.

He has been a guest lecturer at Howard University Small Business Development Center, Babson College (MA) School of Entrepreneurship and the University of Maryland’s Hinman CEOs Program in Entrepreneurship Education. He has also been a frequent speaker at conferences on the issues, both business and legal, facing business owners and entrepreneurs, as well as matters on diversity and inclusion.

Currently, he serves as the General Counsel and Executive Vice-President for the tech startup, Thread Bioscience Inc. and is a legal advisor for Atunwa Digital, an African-focused advertising network company connecting advertisers and brands to a vast net of African-owned media companies. Atunwa has offices in New York City and Accra, Ghana.

He has received numerous awards and honors, including the National Bar Association President’s Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Georgetown University McDonough School of Business, Who’s Who in American Law, the Washington Bar Association Hall of Fame Award, and the Council on the Legal Education Opportunity EDGE Award.

Since graduating from law school, Bellamy has committed himself to increasing the number of African American law students and lawyers.

DONALD MELVIN TEMPLE, ESQUIRE 2021 RECIPIENT CHARLES HAMILTON HOUSTON MEDALLION OF MERIT CONFERRED DURING THE MAY 1, 2021 WBA/WBAEF LAW DAY DINNER

BIOGRAPHICAL PROFILE OF DONALD MELVIN TEMPLE, ESQUIRE

After his 1975 graduation from Howard University, Donald M. Temple (“DT”) attended the University of Santa Clara School of Law where he was elected President of the Black Law Student Association and its first African-American Student Bar Association President. In 1977, DT studied at the International Institute for Human Rights (now the International Institute of Human Rights - Foundation Rene Cassin) in Strasbourg, France. In 1978, upon graduation from Santa Clara, he attended Georgetown University Law Center where in 1981, he obtained an LL.M, with a concentration in international human rights and constitutional law.

DT’s first professional legal opportunity came in 1978 as an Associate Counsel for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), Office of General Counsel, Administrative Law Division, where he worked on government contracts, bid protests and debarments. In 1980, former Louisville Congressman Romano Mazzoli hired DT to serve as Counsel on his personal staff and Counsel to the House District of Columbia Committee, Subcommittee on Judiciary and Education. DT was privileged in that position to work closely with former Superior Court Chief Judges H. Carl Moultrie and Frederick A. Ugast on the court’s budget and various court-related issues. In 1995, DT became a Senior Counsel to the House Committee on the District of Columbia under the Chairmanship of the late Ronald V. Dellums. Following a 1989 candidacy for the D.C. Delegate’s Seat to the United States Congress, DT entered private practice. In 1991, he formed Temple, Pearson, Elmore, and Grady P.C. Two years later, he started his own firm. In 1996, DT affiliated with Mlaba M’kaye, a Durban, South African law firm, where he worked closely on post-apartheid transition issues.

Over the years, DT has sued many local and national corporations, hotels, retail stores, local governments, even law schools and law firms, often with good outcomes. The Washington City Paper called him a “Silver Tongued Lawyer.” He has proudly stopped Prince George’s County police dog-biting cases in the late 1990s and early 2000s; successfully challenged glass ceiling and other discriminatory job-related practices; and successfully litigated police misconduct, whistle-blower, defamation, and trademark cases in local, state and federal courts. DT is best known for his coinage of the term “consumer racism” in his successful litigation of Jackson v. Eddie Bauer, tried in the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland before the Honorable Alexander Williams. In 2018, after eight years of litigation, DT secured one of the highest D.C. Whistleblower judgments yet in Payne v. D.C. Most recently, DT was joined by a team of lawyers who successfully overturned the District of Columbia Court of Appeals’ ruling in Artis v. D.C. before the U.S. Supreme Court.

DT is renowned for his mentorship of, and public speaking to, students of all ages and backgrounds. Over the years, he has spoken to dozens of law schools and colleges, including numerous Black Law Student and Bar Association events across the nation. In 1979, DT founded the Charles Hamilton Houston (“CHH”) Law School Preparatory Institute, a seven-week summer preparatory program for students entering law school. Now in its 42nd consecutive year, the self-sufficient CHH Institute has prepared over 500 predominately African-American students for entry into more than 50 law schools across the nation. DT founded the D.C. Chapter of Concerned Black Men, which members have included several prominent local judges, as well as the former Attorney General of the United States. In 1983, DT co-founded Congressional Black Associates, now a prominent black professional staff network on Capitol Hill.

DT has appeared on CNN, Dateline, The View and numerous other television and radio shows. His commendations include the National Bar Association’s Gertrude E. Rush and Heman Marion Sweatt Awards; the Washington Bar Association’s Ollie May Cooper Award; the Metropolitan Washington Area Employment Lawyers Association’s 2018 Attorney of the Year; and the National Conference of Black Lawyers’ 2020 Lawyer of the Year Award. DT is a proud member of the Washington Bar Association, the National Bar Association, Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Ubiquity, the World Futurist Society, and Friends of Rankin Chapel. He has been inducted into the Washington Bar Association’s Hall of Fame and the D.C. Hall of Fame. Fathering his daughters, Caira and Imani, remain his proudest life achievement.

WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION, INC. CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2020-2021

JULY 2020

July 11, 2020 - WBA Board Retreat July 24, 2020 - WBA Statement Supporting the Appointment of The Honorable Anita Josey-Herring as Chief Judge, Superior Court of the District of Columbia

AUGUST 2020 August 20, 2020 - YLD co-sponsored Virtual Session - Know Your Rights - with D.C. Rhino Program August 25, 2020 - WBA & YLD Virtual Panel - Defunding the Police, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – Part 1 (What Does Defunding the Police Really Mean)

SEPTEMBER 2020

September 10, 2020 - WBA Board of Directors’ Meeting September 17, 2020 - WBA Co-Sponsored Virtual Panel - An Honest Discussion on Racial Inequality in The Legal Profession - with The Bar Association of the District of Columbia September 18, 2020 - WBA Co-Sponsored Virtual Panel - Cannabis Black Ownership, Green Economy - with the Howard Theatre and Catalyst Network Foundation September 22, 2020 - YLD Virtual Panel - Stop Budgeting: A Values Based Approach to a Balanced Life September 29, 2020 - WBA Co-hosted Virtual Discussion with the Honorable Robert Wilkins, including his book Long Road to Hard Truth: The 100-Year Mission to Create the National Museum of African American History and Culture with the Venable Success Network September 30, 2020 - WBA Health and Wellness Committee – Virtual Zumba

OCTOBER 2020 October 2, 2020 - YLD Virtual Panel Discussion - Education Advocacy in a Remote Learning Setting October 7, 2020 - 42nd Annual Ollie May Cooper Award Program and 40th Founders' Lecture October 8, 2020 - WBA & YLD Virtual Panel - Defunding the Police, The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly – Part 2 (How Will Defunding the Police Impact Lawyers and the Community They Serve) October 14, 2020 - WBA & YLD - John Lewis “Good Trouble” Voters Awareness March to the Polls October 14, 2020 - WBA Board of Directors’ Meeting October 27, 2020 - WBA & YLD - John Lewis “Good Trouble” Motorcade/Votercade to the Polls October 28, 2020 - YLD Virtual D.C. Councilmember Candidates Forum

NOVEMBER 2020 November 11, 2020 - WBA Board of Directors’ Meeting November 12, 2020 - YLD’s Virtual Panel - How to Standout at Work During a Pandemic in the Virtual Space November 18, 2020 - WBA Health Committee - Virtual Meditation Seminar 37

DECEMBER 2020 December 3, 2020 - WBA & YLD Virtual Panel - Defunding the Police, the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – Part 3 (How Can Attorneys Support the Divestment Movement and Get Communities Prioritized) December 18, 2020 - WBA Statement Supporting the Redesignation of The Honorable Anna Blackburne- Rigsby as Chief Judge of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals December 18, 2020 - WBA/YLD/WBAEF Virtual Holiday Party and Trivia Night

JANUARY 2021 January 13, 2021 - WBA Board of Directors’ Meeting January 23, 2021 - YLD Virtual Statehood Now Rally January 27, 2021 - WBA/YLD/Greater Washington Area Chapter, Women Lawyers’ Division, National Bar Association (GWAC”) Virtual Resumé Writing Seminar

FEBRUARY 2021 February 10, 2021 - WBA Board of Directors’ Meeting February 25, 2021 - WBA President Tony Towns served as a panelist for the Bar Association of the District of Columbia (“BADC”) - A Legacy of Service: A Fireside Chat with Historically Black Bar Association Leaders February 26, 2021 - YLD Virtual Black History Trivia Night

MARCH 2021 March 3, 2021 - WBA Statement Mourning the Death of Civil Rights and Business Icon Vernon Jordan, Esq. March 10, 2021 - WBA Board of Directors’ Meeting March 11, 2021 - WBA Statement Denouncing the Discriminatory Statements Made by Two Former Adjunct Professors Against Black Students at the Georgetown University Law Center March 15, 2021 - WBA Drive to Obtain Letters in Support of H.R. 51 - Washington, D.C. Admissions Act March 20, 2021 - WBA/YLD/LSD/GWAC Virtual Career Fair March 22, 2021 - WBA Statement Denouncing Acts of Violence Against the Asian/Pacific American Communities March 30, 2021 - WBA Signed Amicus Brief before SCOTUS on the Issue of D.C. Statehood March 31, 2021 - YLD Virtual Panel - Solo Practitioners Surviving the Pandemic

APRIL 2021 April 7, 2021 - WBA Panel Discussion on H.R. 40, the Commission to Study and Develop Reparation Proposals for African-Americans Act April 12, 2021 - WBA Co-sponsored with Asian Pacific American Bar Association (“APABA”) Virtual Fireside Chat with Congressman Andy Kim (NJ-3) April 13, 2021 - WBA & YLD Letter asking President Joseph Biden to Cancel Student Loan Debt April 14, 2021 - WBA Board of Directors’ Meeting April 19, 2021 - YLD Virtual Rank Choice Voting Forum - How Ranked Choice Voting Will Impact DC Elections, Ways in Which It Will Help or Hinder Turnout in Our Elections, Dispel Any Misconceptions, And Provide Clarity on The Process

April 20, 2021 - WBA co-sponsored the Virtual Trial Re-enactment of the Vietnamese Fishermen’s Association v. Knights of Ku, Klux, Klan with APABA April 22, 2021 - WBA Knowledge Is Power Committee - Coffee with the Councilmember Series (Guest: District of Columbia Ward 5 Councilmember Kenyan R. McDuffie) April 28, 2021 - WBA Knowledge Is Power Committee - Coffee with the Councilmember Series (Guest: District of Columbia Councilmember At-Large Christina Henderson)

MAY 2021 May 1, 2021 - WBA/WBAEF Virtual Law Day Dinner and Awards Program May 8, 2021 - WBA John Lewis Voter Awareness Advancement Day Motorcade/Votercade May 11, 2021 - WBA Board of Directors’ Meeting

JUNE 2021 June 10, 2021 - WBA Annual Conference, Meeting, Dr. J. Clay Smith Equal Justice Ceremony & Hall of Fame

June 10, 2 02 1 at 5 : 00 P.M.

THE WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION’S 2021 ANNUAL CONFERENCE, ANNUAL MEETING

Dr. Genna Rae McNeil Thought Leader, Professor and Author GROUNDWORK: Charles Hamilton Houston and the Struggl e for Civil Rights (1983) 2021 Dr. J Clay Smith Memorial Equal Justice Lecturer

& HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY

OPENING ADDRESS HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE HALL OF FAME INDUCTEE

Hon. Eleanor Holmes Norton Hon. Karl A. Racine Joyce A. Mitchell, Esq. Ra Hon R WBA Annual Conference’s Opening Address: The Status of D.C. Statehood

R egister in advance for th e WBA Annual Conference at no charge !

RSVP Now

th Washington Bar Association’s 4 Annual Dr. J. Clay Smith Memorial Equal Justice Lecture

DR. J. CLAY SMITH MEMORIAL

EQUAL JUSTICE LECTURE AND SCHOLAR’S AWARD

Dr . Genna Rae Mc N eil WBA 2021 Dr. J. Clay Smith EQUAL JUSTICE LECTURER Thought Leader, Professor and Author of GROUNDWORK: Charles Hamilton Houston and the Struggle for Civil Rights (1983)

THURSD AY , J UNE 10 , 2021 AT 5:00 P . M . WBA ’S VIRTUAL ANNUAL CONFERENCE , ANNUAL MEETING & HALL OF FAME CEREMONY 41

RSVP No w

WASHINGTON BAR ASSOCIATION, INC. 2021 ANNUAL CONFERENCE, ANNUAL MEETING, ANNUAL DR. J. CLAY SMITH EQUAL JUSTICE LECTURE & HALL OF FAME INDUCTION CEREMONY

ANNUAL CONFERENCE & ANNUAL MEETING COMMITTEE

Robert L. Bell, Chair Felicia L. Chambers, Esquire Ronald C. Jessamy, Sr., Esquire Tony Towns, WBA President & CEO, Ex Officio

HALL OF FAME COMMITTEE

Robert L. Bell, Chair Hon. Errol Arthur Alexandra Cohen, Esquire Jamaca Mitchell, Esquire Tony Towns, WBA President & CEO, Ex Officio

NOMINATIONS & ELECTIONS COMMITTEE

Iris McCollum Green, Chair C. Hope Brown Johnson, Esquire Wendell W. Webster, Esquire Tony Towns, WBA President & CEO, Ex Officio

COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTION COMMEMORATING JOSEPH H. HAIRSTON, ESQUIRE

Ronald C. Jessamy, Sr., Chair Robert L. Bell, Esquire Karen E. Evans, Esquire Hon. H. Alexander Manuel Alfreda Robinson, Esquire Donald A. Thigpen, Jr., Esquire Tony Towns, WBA President & CEO, Ex Officio

COMMITTEE ON RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF STATEHOOD FOR WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

Bradley C. Thomas, Chair Robert L. Bell, Esquire Felicia L. Chambers, Esquire Tony Towns, WBA President & CEO, Ex Officio