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Thurgood
Marshall
Lawyer, Freedom Fighter, Supreme
Court Judge Born July 2, 1908, in Baltimore, Thurgood
Marshall was one of the greatest fighters of civil rights in
America. He was the son of a dining room steward and teacher. He
achieved national recognition for his civil rights achievements
as a lawyer and later as an associate justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States.
Marshall attended public schools in Baltimore. He was the
product of Frederick Douglass High School. Later, Marshall
attended Lincoln University in Pennsylvania to study dentistry.
Marshall graduated from Howard University Law School in
Washington, D.C. in 1933 at the top of his class.
Marshall returned to his native Baltimore to practice law.
Most of his clients were people who made a modest living. many
could not afford the services he rendered. however, personal
circumstances did not stop him from handling the problems that
were presented to him. Marshall handled numerous cases involving
legal disputes, police brutality, evictions, and other civil
rights issues. Due to his untiring dedication and skilful court
presentations, he became known as the "little man's
lawyer."
In 1934, Marshall was appointed as an assistant to special
counsel Charles Hamilton Houston, who worked for the Baltimore
branch of the NAACP. In 1938, Marshall became a special
assistant to the NAACP. Marshall represented clients with civil
rights cases over the United States. He won thirty-two out of
thirty-five cases taken to the Supreme Court. His reputation
spread throughout the United States for his outstanding work.
Marshall was known as the greatest constitutional lawyer of this
country when he served as chief attorney for the NAACP.
Marshall was nominated by President John F. Kennedy for
appointment to the Second Supreme Court of Appeals (New York,
Connecticut, and Vermont) September 23, 1961. The appointment
was confirmed by the Senate. President Lyndon B. Johnson
nominated Judge Marshall to become an Associate Justice of the
Supreme Court. On August 30, 1967, Marshall was confirmed by the
Senate to be the ninety-sixth Supreme Court Justice. He was the
first African American to serve as a Justice of the Supreme
court.
Justice Marshall received many awards and citations for his
outstanding contributions to the field of civil rights until his
death in 1993. * * *
* * Mary L. Dudziak.
Exporting American Dreams: Thurgood Marshall's African Journey
(2008)
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Marshall, LBJ and the Court
LBJ Broke New Ground; Will the Next
President Have a Similar Opportunity?
When he tap Thurgood Marshall for the
U.S. Supreme Court in the summer of 1967, Lyndon Baines
Johnson made history: The great-grandson of an African
American slave was nominated to join the nation’s highest
court.
“Lyndon Johnson was tremendously proud of the nomination,”
says USC legal scholar
Mary L. Dudziak. “Johnson was focused on what the
achievement would say to all the African American children
in the land, what they could aspire to in their own lives.”
After the Marshall appointment, it would be another 14 years
before another appointment of equal symbolism occurred: the
nomination of Sandra Day O’Connor by Ronald Reagan. |
In the past two decades, the
nomination and confirmation process has been more about the politics of
right vs. left than about reflecting the new diversity of America, says
Dudziak, who sees the upcoming centennial of Marshall’s birth on July 2
as an opportunity to reflect on the politics and symbolism of Supreme
Court nominees.
Dudziak’s new book,
Exporting American Dreams: Thurgood Marshall's African Journey,
traces Marshall’s progression from civil rights attorney to a legal
figure of international prominence who, among other achievements,
crafted a draft bill of rights for Kenya, which in the early 1960s was
transitioning into statehood after years of British colonial rule.
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“Marshall had faith in law as a means of
social change,” says Dudziak. “It came out of his experience
trying to achieve social change in a context that was laced
with violence. He believed that law had historically played
a role in putting down African Americans through slavery and
disenfranchisement — and that it was in part through law
that equality would be achieved.”
Marshall’s faith was ultimately returned when he was
confirmed by the U.S. Senate, despite the long shadows of
prejudice and the social unrest of the period. Marshall said
of LBJ, “I don’t see how he got it through, but he did,”
notes Dudziak in her book. “This is a shining hour,” Sen.
Mike Mansfield said when announcing the news to Johnson. “We
have come a long, long way toward equal access to the
Constitution’s promise.” |
Will the next president of the
United States have a chance to make history with a Supreme Court
nomination? Dudziak says an obvious opportunity — the appointment of an
openly-gay jurist to the court — could become a political battleground,
as Marshall’s nomination was. But with more support for full inclusion
of gays and lesbians, this milestone will eventually be achieved, she
says.
Dudziak believes there is an opportunity for the next president to speak
directly to the American public through the nomination process. “Either
candidate might break barriers and make history with a court
appointment,” she concludes.
Source:
Exporting American Dreams Blog
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* Mary L. Dudziak.
Exporting American Dreams: Thurgood Marshall's African Journey
(2008)
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Reviews
"Effectively sketches those events in the civil rights
movement... Dudziak's clarity and careful documentation make
her book accessible to the general reader and a valuable
tool for African and African-American studies."—Publishers
Weekly
"Dudziak brings out with impressive clarity how Thurgood
Marshall's greatness stemmed from his Whitman-esque ability
to contain multitudes: committed to the rule of law, he
could chide Kenya's new leadership for departing even
slightly from it, work for justice in segregated America,
and sustain a relationship with young civil rights activists
taking direct and 'illegal' action in the early 1960s."
—Mark Tushnet, Harvard Law School and author
of Making Civil Rights Law: Thurgood Marshall and the
Supreme Court, 1956-1961 |
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"This book
on a less-studied part of Marshall's career is recommended for libraries
collecting in law, legal processes, and African and African American
history."—Library
Journal
"In this gem of a book, Mary Dudziak brings vividly to life the
important but little known history of Thurgood Marshall's intense
involvement with Kenya during its journey toward independence in the
1960s. This great champion of the American civil rights struggle never
relinquished his hope that democracy and equality would one day flourish
in Kenya, even as he became painfully aware of the obstacles that stood
in the path of this dream. A powerful and poignant story, beautifully
told."—Gary
Gerstle, Vanderbilt University and author of American Crucible: Race and
Nation in the Twentieth Century
"By dint of creative and exhaustive research, Mary Dudziak has written
an excellent book about a facet of Thurgood Marshall's career that has
never before received substantial attention. Who knew that 'Mr. Civil
Rights' contributed significantly to African as well as American legal
systems. All students of this great man's life owe a major debt to
Professor Dudziak's labors."—Randall
Kennedy, Harvard Law School and author of Sellout: The Politics of
Racial Betrayal
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Thurgood Marshall
Speaks To Obama From Beyond the Grave
By Dan Froomkin
Barack Obama and I went to see
"Thurgood" at the Kennedy Center over the weekend. We didn't exactly go together. In fact we didn't even
go on the same night (he went Friday, I went Saturday). But if we had
anything like the same experience, the president emerged inspired and
emboldened. Then again, considering the timing, and his recent
choice of Supreme Court nominee, maybe he emerged abashed. "Thurgood" is the extraordinary one-man show in which
actor Laurence Fishburne completely transforms himself into Thurgood
Marshall, the civil rights hero who became the first African-American
Supreme Court Justice.
Fishburne's Thurgood is a compelling, funny,
ferociously independent-minded man, and as George Stevens Jr.'s
electrifying script reveals, his most dramatic moments actually came
before he donned judicial robes, during his 25 years as a lawyer for the
NAACP bravely using the law as a weapon to end legal segregation in this
country. His most celebrated victory was the 1954
Brown v. Board of Education case, in which the Supreme Court
declared an end to the "separate but equal" system of racial segregation
in public schools.Watching Marshall's life unfold is exhilarating—a
moving testament to one principled man's ability to change a whole
society for the better. And watching it on Saturday night, I couldn't
help but feel like the night before, Fishburne must have been directing
his performance to one member of the audience in particular.
The real message of "Thurgood" is a celebration of
courage—Marshall's, mostly, but also LBJ's, for nominating such a
controversial figure to the bench and then twisting the requisite arms
in the Senate to get him confirmed. And that's where it gets a bit double-edged. Because
the play reminds us that there was a time when courage was not
necessarily disqualifying from public service. Marshall, in his time, was a radical—and I gather
there was some talk of his drinking and carousing, too, for good
measure. But Johnson picked him and stuck by him.
By contrast, rather than nominate a modern-day
radical—say, an outspoken gay rights activist—or even someone
dramatically on the left side of the legal spectrum, Obama recently
picked
Elena Kagan, whose most significant qualification appears to have
been that she successfully avoided doing anything the least bit
controversial—or courageous— over the course of her long legal career.
Sure, the civil rights battles aren't as big as they
were anymore (thank goodness) but there's still a lot to be courageous
about.
Maybe next time—assuming he gets a next time—Obama
will be bolder. God knows Republican presidents aren't bashful about who
they nominate. Indeed, the one downside to seeing "Thurgood" is that it
makes the first President Bush's decision to replace him with right-wing
puppet Clarence Thomas feel like a fresh wound. I wonder what Obama took away from his night at the
theater. I know he must have been impressed by Fishburne's tour-de-force
performance, if nothing else. Maybe he could take a lesson there: Even
if you're not Thurgood Marshall, act like you are.
14 June 2010
Source:
HuffingtonPost
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A Defiant Life: Thurgood Marshall & The
Persistence of Racism in America
By Howard Ball
Thurgood Marshall's extraordinary contribution to civil rights and
overcoming racism is more topical than ever, as the national debate on
race and the overturning of affirmative action policies make headlines
nationwide. Howard Ball, author of eighteen books on the Supreme Court
and the federal judiciary, has done copious research for this incisive
biography to present an authoritative portrait of Marshall the jurist.
Born to a middle-class black family in "Jim Crow" Baltimore at the turn
of the century, Marshall's race informed his worldview from an early
age. He was rejected by the University of Maryland Law School because of
the color of his skin. He then attended Howard University's Law School,
where his racial consciousness was awakened by the brilliant lawyer and
activist Charlie Houston. Marshall suddenly knew what he wanted to be: a
civil rights lawyer, one of Houston's "social engineers." As the chief
attorney for the NAACP, he developed the strategy for the legal
challenge to racial discrimination. His soaring achievements and his
lasting impact on the nation's legal system--as the NAACP's advocate, as
a federal appeals court judge, as President Lyndon Johnson's solicitor
general, and finally as the first African American Supreme Court
Justice--are symbolized by Brown v. Board of Education, the landmark
case that ended legal segregation in public schools. Using race as the
defining theme, Ball spotlights Marshall's genius in working within the
legal system to further his lifelong commitment to racial equality. With
the help of numerous, previously unpublished sources, Ball presents a
lucid account of Marshall's illustrious career and his historic impact
on American civil rights. |
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Thurgood
Laurence Fishburne
stars in Thurgood written by George Stevens Jr., the
dramatic retelling of the life of
Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to be
appointed to the Supreme Court.
Jun 1 - 20, 2010
Eisenhower Theater / 90 minutes $25.00
- $90.00
Laurence Fishburne in Thurgood, A play by George Stevens
Jr., Directed by Leonard Foglia |
Absorbing, at times even stirring—The
New York Times
"There ought to be a law--all bio-dramas should be as vivid and
entertaining as Thurgood.—New York Daily News
"Rich in history, humanity and humor—New
York Daily News
In Thurgood, Tony Award–winning actor Laurence Fishburne reprises
his Broadway role as Thurgood Marshall, the first African American to be
appointed to the Supreme Court. From his early days as the civil rights
lawyer who argued Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, a landmark
case which led to the end of institutionalized segregation, to his
appointment to the highest court in the land, Thurgood Marshall stood
for justice while lifting the standing of his race.
In a fictional lecture on his life given by Thurgood Marshall at his
alma mater, Howard University, Fishburne deftly shifts among characters,
moving from Thurgood as a young and spirited man to a pensive Justice
full of wisdom, and at times inhabiting the friends and foes that were
met along the way. "Fishburne is magnetic as Marshall," says the New
York Daily News. "He captures the justice's drive and everyday
essence as well as his wry—if sometimes crass--wit." In the end,
Thurgood proves that it is possible to work within the rule of law while
remaining true to the rule of the heart. Performance
Timing: 90 minutes without intermission.
Source:
Kennedy Center
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Africa Makes
Some Noise—Documentary on
contemporary music from Africa
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Sister Citizen: Shame, Stereotypes, and Black Women in
America
By Melissa V.
Harris-Perry
According to the
author, this society has historically exerted
considerable pressure on black females to fit into one
of a handful of stereotypes, primarily, the Mammy, the
Matriarch or the Jezebel. The selfless
Mammy’s behavior is marked by a slavish devotion to
white folks’ domestic concerns, often at the expense of
those of her own family’s needs. By contrast, the
relatively-hedonistic Jezebel is a sexually-insatiable
temptress. And the Matriarch is generally thought of as
an emasculating figure who denigrates black men, ala the
characters Sapphire and Aunt Esther on the television
shows Amos and Andy and Sanford and Son, respectively.
Professor Perry
points out how the propagation of these harmful myths
have served the mainstream culture well. For instance,
the Mammy suggests that it is almost second nature for
black females to feel a maternal instinct towards
Caucasian babies.
As for the source
of the Jezebel, black women had no control over their
own bodies during slavery given that they were being
auctioned off and bred to maximize profits. Nonetheless,
it was in the interest of plantation owners to propagate
the lie that sisters were sluts inclined to mate
indiscriminately.
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Obama's America and the New
Jim Crow (Michelle Alexander)
/ Michelle_Alexander Part
II Democracy Now
(Video)
Michelle Alexander Speaks At
Riverside Church
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part
2 of 4 /
part 3 of 4 /
part 4 of 4
There are
more African Americans under
correctional control
today--in prison or jail, on
probation or parole—than
were enslaved in 1850, a
decade before the Civil War
began. If you take into
account prisoners, a large
majority of African American
men in some urban areas,
like Chicago, have been
labeled felons for life.
These men are part of a
growing undercaste, not
class, caste—a group of
people who are permanently
relegated, by law, to an
inferior second-class
status. They can be denied
the right to vote,
automatically excluded from
juries, and legally
discriminated against in
employment, housing, access
to education and public
benefits—much
as their grandparents and
great-grandparents once were
during the Jim Crow era.—Michelle
Alexander,
The New Jim Crow |
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update 24
July 2008
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