Black Lawyers: The Malcolm X Edition

Through his interviews and writings, Malcolm X often communicated his early-life desire to become an attorney. No one can deny that Malcolm X, history’s most potent advocate, would have been an incredible attorney. Before his life was taken, his youthful ambitions were snuffed out by a racist school system. He described the incident that dashed his hopes of becoming an attorney in his autobiography stating:

“He told me, ‘Malcolm, you ought to be thinking about a career. Have you been giving it thought?’ The truth is, I hadn’t. I never have figured out why I told him, ‘Well, yes, sir, I’ve been thinking I’d like to be a lawyer.’ Lansing certainly had no Negro lawyers-or doctors either-in those days, to hold up an image I might have aspired to. All I really knew for certain was that a lawyer didn’t wash dishes, as I was doing.

Mr. Ostrowski looked surprised, I remember, and leaned back in his chair and clasped his hand behind his head. He kind of half-smiled and said, ‘Malcolm, one of life’s first needs is for us to be realistic. Don’t misunderstand me, now. We all here like you, you know that. But you’ve got to be realistic about being a ni**er. A lawyer-that’s no realistic goal for a ni**er. You need to think about something you can be. You’re good with your hands-making things. Everybody admires your carpentry shop work. Why don’t you plan on carpentry? People like you as a person, you’d get all kinds of work.’

The more I thought afterwards about what he said, the more uneasy it made me. It just kept treading around in my mind.

What made it really begin to disturb me was Mr. Ostrowski’s advice to others in my class- all of them white. Most of them had told him they were planning to become farmers. But those who wanted to strike out on their own, to try something new, he had encouraged. Some, mostly girls, wanted to be teachers. A few wanted other professions, such as one boy who wanted to become a county agent; another, a veterinarian; and one girl wanted to be a nurse. They all reported that Mr. Ostrowski had encouraged what they had wanted. Yet nearly none of them had earned marks equal to mine.

It was a surprising thing that I had never thought of it that way before, but I realized that whatever I wasn’t, I was smarter than nearly all of those white kids. But apparently, I was still not intelligent enough, in their eyes, to become whatever I wanted to be. It was then that I began to change inside.”

57 years ago, Malcolm X was assassinated. Malcolm X often spoke about his desire to become an attorney. As a second-year law student, today, and every day, I salute and honor this most honorable ancestor. Thank you for your example, bravery, integrity, purity, self-discipline, love, intellect, Godliness, honesty, and leadership.

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What Is Weathering? Is It An Argument For Reparations In Realtime?

The January 2019 edition of National Geographic states that “weathering” is “a concept developed by University of Michigan professor of public health Arline Geronimus that suggests the health of African Americans deteriorates earlier than that of whites because of the cumulative effects of racism and bias.”

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Yusuf Hawkins: Never Forget

Tuesday would have been Yusuf Kirriem Hawkins 46th birthday.  

The Brooklynite was viciously murdered in his own hometown almost 30 years ago when a quest to purchase a used car led him to a predominately white part of Brooklyn.

16-year old Yusuf Hawkins and three friends ventured into Bensonhurst on a summer’s night in 1989 to purchase a 1982 Pontiac.  They were instead met with a racist mob who ambushed them.  The mob of approximately 30 white men were armed with weapons, including a firearm and baseball bats.  They shouted racial epithets at the black youths and violently attacked them.

Yusuf Hawkins was shot twice in his chest and killed.

Lynch mobs hunting black people has been propagandized as being a practice of an ancient past.

However, every generation has a story of such occurrences happening during their lifetime.  These happenings leave indelible imprints on those who have watched them unfold directly or collaterally.  We must never forget!!

RIP Yusuf Hawkins and so many others.

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Starbucks’ Bottomline Unbothered After Racist Philadelphia Debacle

“For that period that the protest and the incident occurred in Philadelphia, now certainly those stores were impacted for a brief period. But it’s still early days, and we don’t have all of the information on demographics. But certainly if I look nationally, and I look at regions across the United States, there’s not been a measurable impact that we can attribute to Philadelphia. But certainly in the City of Philadelphia, during that period, there was some impact.” Kevin Johnson Starbucks CEO

Is this statement coming from a CEO who is trying to save face, and/or were the economic repercussions not impactful enough?

Black People what are we going to do?

SIDEBAR: How many franchises has Starbucks licensed to Black entrepreneurs? Keep in mind that this is a franchise that makes approximately $36.6 million per day.

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