“While without question we are in a perilous moment in this country, we are also in a moment of tremendous possibility, particularly in the South,” Ifill added. “The elements for change are very much present in the South, and what needs to be strengthened is the capacity of lawyering.”
The fund will be named the Marshall-Motley Scholars Program after former Supreme Court Justice
Thurgood Marshall, and
Constance Baker Motley, the first Black female federal judge.
Motley also served as Marshall’s law clerk in the Brown v. Board of Education case.
Today, we are proud to announce the groundbreaking #MarshallMotleyScholars Program, an innovative educational opportunity that will produce the next generation of civil rights attorneys in the South. https://t.co/ixODtuXnX6
The NAACP chose Martin Luther King Day to announce the Marshall-Motley Scholars Program, named for the Supreme Court justice and for Constance Baker Motley, who was an LDF attorney just a few years out of Columbia University Law School when she wrote the initial complaint that led to the court s Brown v. Board of Education ruling outlawing racial segregation in public schools. She later became the first Black woman federal judge.
“Our country continues to be plagued with racial injustice, and we need Nonviolent Warriors who are prepared and equipped on all fronts to deal with it especially on the legal front, the Rev. Bernice King said in a statement supporting the program. “It will allow the LDF to make greater strides on behalf of the Black community for generations to come in the area of racial justice, just as they did during the movement led by my parents.”
Anonymous $40 million gift funding 50 civil rights lawyers yahoo.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from yahoo.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.