C. Francis Stradford
Jessie N. Baker
William H. Haynes and
George S. Adams from Chicago
L. Amasa Knox and
Charles H. Calloway from Kansas City, Missouri
Gertrude E. Rush (our sole female founder)
Charles P. Howard, Sr.
George H. Woodson
James B. Morris and
S. Joe Brown from Des Moines, Iowa .

After being rejected by the American Bar Association, these visionary founders established the NBA in 1925, with a mission that is still relevant and vibrant today.

For over 80 years, the National Bar Association has led the crusade for justice and equality, and has been the legal conscience of America.

Thank you Judge Timothy Evans for swearing me in.

I also want to thank the incomparable Judge Arnette Hubbard for introducing me, and for blazing the trail enabling me to be here this evening.

It was an honor to serve under the leadership of President Linnes Finney. Linnes has that uncanny ability to keep his head when all around him are losing theirs and blaming it on him.

I am very lucky to have a wonderful team of people around me who love, advise, counsel, support and nurture me-

My family is here this evening and I would like to introduce them to you. First, my mother, Jacqueline Banks.

My mother had a single focus when we were growing up - to raise 3 productive, good citizens who give back to their community. She accomplished that- she produced one lawyer, a pharmacist, and a teacher.

My sister, brother-in-law and nephew, Avis, Kern, and Kern III Rash are here from California. My brother, sister-in-law and nephew, Carlos, Jamyce and Curtis are here from Indianapolis.

My grade school class mate and her husband Karla and Stanley Bibbs are here as well. Would you all please stand.

My Allstate family is here. Allstate has been a proud sponsor of the National Bar Association since 1996 - 12 consecutive years. Allstate is committed to increasing diversity in the legal profession. My dear friend, Donna Johnson, and I have traveled this NBA path together since the 1996 Convention in Chicago. I could not serve as your President without the support of my General Counsel, Mick McCabe. Mick, please stand. Other Allstate officers joining us are Mary McGinn, Bill Vainisi and Steve Ihm. My colleague, Charis Johnson served as Co-Chair of this Convention. Would Charis and all Allstate attorneys here this evening please stand. I want to thank Sonia Waiters for her personal dedication to me and her friendship.

I want to also thank Associate Dean Alfreda Robinson. Dean Robinson and I have talked almost every day in preparation for this Bar Year. As most of you know, she is the reason that the NBA has more influence than the ABA on judicial nomination and selection. Dean Robinson will serve as my Chief Counsel. Sonia and Alfreda please stand.

Most of you have met my husband James. James is my constant supporter and soul mate, and we have been collaborating for 30 years now. James, I love you.

Please join me in welcoming American Bar Association President-Elect Bill Neukom. Bill, please stand and be recognized.

I want to spend just a few minutes sharing with you how we plan to build on the grand legacy of the NBA. First, President Finney has referenced passing the Torch to me several times this week, and I have decided to continue carrying the torch with our 2007-2008 Bar Theme-- "Carrying the Torch: Power Through Collaboration".

We are living in the best of times and the Worst of Times, and it is clear that our domestic and international communities are in crisis. For example:

We are engaged in a historic Presidential campaign where the 2 front running candidates for the Democratic nomination are a woman and an African American;

Young leaders like Corey Booker, mayor of Newark, New Jersey, and Kwame Kilpatrick, mayor of Detroit, Michigan, are emerging with a mission to revitalize our inner city communities;

Many of us have achieved tremendous professional and economic success as a result of the NBA's efforts;

HOWEVER, we are spending billions of dollars and our young men and women service members are in harms way in Iraq, fighting a war commenced on false pretenses, and which cannot be won.

In Chicago, 39 children were gunned down in the streets this past school year.

This nation's war on drugs has resulted in a pipeline to prison for our young boys.

The Supreme Court is steadily turning back the clock on those rights that our ancestors fought so hard to obtain.

Anti-affirmative action foes have turned Martin Luther King's words on their head. It's now 2 years after Katrina and gulf coast survivors are still suffering.

Clearly, there is much work to be done. I will work hard to ensure that this Bar Year is about solutions to the problems affecting us as lawyers and the issues affecting our communities.

I intend to lead the NBA to empower our communities through collaborative action. We will continue to build on our strong coalitions with our civil rights partners, including the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and People for the American Way. We will work very closely with the Congressional Black Caucus in developing and advocating a progressive agenda addressing the key civil rights issues of today - access to quality education, housing, healthcare and legal representation. We must stand with them to repeal mandatory minimum sentencing laws and ensure that every child has access to a quality education and healthcare.

We will also build coalitions with our African American civic organizations and others that share our mission. I plan to meet with the leadership of these organizations to discuss how we can address these issues and develop a joint action plan.

We will reach out to the corporations that operate in this global economy and our communities, to move forward our goal of increasing diversity in the legal profession. We will address the under-representation of African American attorneys in large law firms and corporations by forging effective partnerships with corporations and law firms who can make a difference. In addition, we will work on ways to increase the number of African-American owned law firms and to direct more business to those firms.

We will also focus on the critical issue of maintaining and increasing the Pipeline of African American lawyers at every stage. I am asking every member to identify and mentor 1 youth that is not a family member, and is in need of guidance and support. This is something that all of us in this room can do. I have always believed that being a lawyer is not just a profession, but a calling. In turn, we are called upon to lift the next generation.

As I said, this Bar Year will focus on solutions, remaining proactive and vigilant. In conclusion, in the words of Barbara Jordan:

"The imperative is to define what is right - and do it."

WE ARE THE NATIONAL BAR ASSOCIATION, AND WE WILL ENDURE AND THRIVE TODAY AND FOREVER!

Thank you.

 

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