Constance Baker Motley: September 14th 1921- September 28 2005. Was an African American civil rights activist lawyer judge state senator and borough president of Manhattan New York. Constance was born in New Haven Connecticut the 9th of 12 children children. Her parents had immigrated from Nevis, in the Caribbean. Constance initially attended Fisk University, a historically Black College in Nashville, Tennessee. Before deciding to return north to attend integrated New York University, where she received her Bachelors of Arts Degree in 1943. Motley obtained her law degree from Columbia University School of Law in 1946. Her legal career began as a law clerk in the fledgling NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, where she worked with a distinguished group of Civil Rights Attorneys. In 1950, Constance wrote the original complaint in the case of Brown v. Board of Education. The first African- American woman ever to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. In the case of Meredith v. Fair, Constance successfully won James Merediths effort to be the first Black Student to attend the University of Mississippi in 1962. Constance was also successful in nine of the ten cases she argued before the Supreme Court. The tenth decision, regarding jury composition was eventually overturned in her favor. Constance was otherwise a key legal strategist in the Civil Rights Movement, helping to desegregate Southern Schools, Buses and Lunch Counters. In 1964, Constance became the first African- American woman elected to the New York State Senate. In 1965, Constance was chosen Manhattan Borough President. The first woman in that position, in 1966 President Lyndon B. Johnson named her District Judge for the U.S. District Court Southern District of New York. Making her the first African- American woman Federal Court Judge, a position Constance held, including a term as Chief Judge until her Death. Constance handed down a breakthrough decision for woman in Sports Broadcasting in 1978, when she ruled that female reporters must be allowed into a Major League Baseball locker room. Constance Baker Motley died of Congestive Heart Failure on September 28, 2005 at New York University Downtown Hospital in New York City. Food for Thought......... BLACK FACTS..........
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 16:56:16 +0000
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