Educating, Empowering and Encouraging the Voices of Black Women
The ABWL-NJ slogan for 2020-21 captures our continued commitment to our Founders’ vision for the organization when it was formed in 1975. They established the organization so that it could serve as a foundation from which the collective voices of Black women—silenced and suppressed for far too long–would be lifted, not only for issues plaguing the legal profession, but for causes impacting our communities at large.
Forty five years later, ABWL-NJ remains vigilant in its primary mission to support Black women lawyers and law students. Our organization functions with dignity and purpose. Members are role models for law students and for young people throughout the community. They excel in private practice, local, state and federal governments, the judiciary, corporations, education and countless other careers. We have answered the call and continue to succeed in the face of innumerable obstacles.
During this 45th Anniversary year we are being called on to face new challenges unlike the world has seen before. The global COVID-19 pandemic has forced all nations and every segment of society to change drastically. The pandemic has also shined new light on the flagrant systemic inequities that destroy the wellbeing and health of Black and Brown people everywhere. Co-existing with the pandemic is the social justice movement sweeping America (and the world) that erupted after the killing of Mr. George Floyd by a white police officer in front of police officers and citizens. That eight-minute-and-46-second “murder” coupled with continued violence and aggression against Black people, touched off an avalanche of crowds of all races going to the streets to demand justice.
As members of ABWL-NJ, we must lend our support and raise our voices to address these and other perilous issues facing our nation. Silence is not an option in the face of the overwhelming evidence that racism and injustice are the twin evils that threaten our future. Our members have skills and knowledge that are essential to the survival of many communities and families. We are the answer to our foremothers’ (ancestors’) prayers. We are educated, gifted, ready and willing to use our expertise in the legal and political systems to educate and mentor others. Knowledge is power and we must share what we know in order to empower others to lift their voices in town hall meetings, in state houses, in school rooms and in court rooms.
Black women often carry the burden of being the head of household, sole childcare provider and support system for the entire family. These sisters need our help and resources. Law students are struggling and frightened. We must help them to find employment, while preparing them for a new world order. At the same time, we must recognize that self-care comes first so that we may indeed be each other’s keepers and a steady resource for our communities.
Finally, we cannot fear change and new voices. We have an obligation to listen to the voices of those who are protesting and putting their lives at risk to expose the ruth and demand justice. The younger generation can educate and encourage all of us to think beyond our traditional boundaries and truly learn about the realities of individuals who do not have access to resources to effectively navigate the legal, political, educational, and economic structure. ABWL-NJ was created to be a support for Black women and our community’s voice in times like these.
The Executive Board and I need your support, fervent prayers, resources, connections and skills. I am honored to serve. I stand on the shoulders of strong parents (Arlie and Mary). I want to specifically honor my maternal matriarchs: mother (Mary), grandmother (Beatrice and Jesse), great grandmother (Mary and Isabela) and great-great grandmother (Ann) – born in 1850 and married my great- great- grandfather who was born into slavery in 1824).
We must honor those who suffered and sacrificed so their seeds (descendants) could live free. It is these deep roots that will sustain us individually and collectively; these roots remind us that we are not only the legal organization that supports Black women lawyers and law students, but the legal organization that stands for municipal court reform, pay equity, social justice, integrity in policing, fair prosecution and sentencing, and equality in every aspect of our lives. Our foremothers and ABWL-NJ founders demand that we be the organization to lift up the voices of All Black Women.
In Closing and With Wisdom,
“If you are silent about your pain, they’ll kill you and say you enjoyed it.” Zora Neale Hurston
