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BLSA In The News

Harvard Law Review President Excels in Role

November 28, 2018 //  by HBLSA Admin//  Leave a Comment

Profile: Michael Thomas, President of Harvard Law Review

Fall 2018 | By Ope Adebanjo ’20

As Harvard Law Review President, BLSA member Michael Thomas finds inspiration for the hard work of the role from a myriad of places. As his tenure as President comes to a close, he reflects that he has found the work of HLR deeply satisfying and fun, as he continues to learn new things each day on the job. He also acknowledges that he is grateful to have a strong support system in many areas of his life, from the hardworking HLR editors—to which he feels a sense of responsibility to curate great content and cultivate a supportive community—to the BLSA community—which he considers a family that he can lean on when things get tough. Thomas was grateful to have found a mentor in former HLR President and BLSA member ImeIme Umana. Her work and advice has been vital in making the transition smooth for Thomas this year. But Thomas acknowledges that there are just some things you can’t prepare for until you are in the role, so he often draws from a set of life experiences to direct his actions, including his experiences as an HLR editor last year and his work before law school in the New York City Mayor’s Office. …

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Category: BLSA In The News

Harvard Black Law Students Association Responds to Defacing of Black Faculty Portraits

November 19, 2015 //  by lshelton//  Leave a Comment

November 19, 2015

Harvard Black Law Students Association (HBLSA) Condemns Defacing of Black Faculty Portraits

CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS – The Harvard Black Law Students Association (HBLSA) condemns today’s defacing of Black faculty portraits at Harvard Law School.

Today’s act is part of a larger pattern of racial antagonism at the Law School and schools across the nation. This event demonstrates that even at our nation’s most prestigious institutions, students, faculty, and staff of color are not immune to racial injustices. These injustices take the form of microaggressions, racially hostile learning environments, a delegitimization of Black voices and opinions, and a legacy of racism embodied in the crests of many institutions of higher learning in this country.

Today’s act of vandalism, motivated by racial animus, is not an isolated incident at Harvard Law School. “HBLSA is committed to fighting against racism, bigotry, and ignorance at our institution. However, it should not be our fight alone. We call on faculty and administrators to seriously consider the concerns and frustrations that students have repeatedly brought to their attention,” said Leland Shelton, President of the Harvard Black Law Students Association.

After students pressured both the Dean of Students and the Dean of the Law School, the administration opened a previously scheduled faculty meeting to students and staff to provide a forum for community-wide discussion. During the meeting, Martha Minow, the Dean of the Law School, acknowledged that racism is an ongoing problem in America and at Harvard. HBLSA considers the meeting to be a starting point, not a resolution, and will remain actively engaged with the administration, faculty, staff, student organizations, and alumni to implement concrete institutional change.

Shelton adds, “recent events at the University of Missouri, Yale, and campuses across the country remind us that racism persists and encourages us to continue to fight with a sense of urgency for meaningful change in our institutions and in our country.”

Media contact:

Leland Shelton, President, Harvard Black Law Students Association

hblsapresident@gmail.com

http://www3.law.harvard.edu/orgs/blsa/

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Category: BLSA In The News

HBLSA Open Letter

November 29, 2010 //  by Harvard Law School

(Click here for PDF version)

November 29, 2010

To Whom It May Concern:

Members of the Harvard and Greater Boston community have come together to address an incident that
occurred at an after-party for the Harvard-Yale game on Saturday, November 20, 2010. During this
incident, a group of primarily black patrons were asked to leave a downtown Boston nightclub. Others
on the guest list were refused entrance altogether.

Upon arrival at the party location, Cure Lounge, partygoers were required to provide a Harvard ID in
addition to valid state identification, despite the fact that their names were on an official list provided by
the party organizers. Those waiting in line were not put on notice of this additional requirement
beforehand, and in the wake of this, people who had pre-registered and paid to attend the event were
turned away at the door. Those patrons that did make it inside Cure Lounge eventually were asked to
leave the establishment. The party planners reported that “[M]anagement decided to shut the party down
as to avoid the hypothetical chance of attracting the ‘wrong crowd.’” This assumption was expressed as
the basis for their requirement of Harvard IDs. The implications of these statements and the collective
events of Saturday are beyond troubling.

Our united message is simple: Prejudicial assumptions and manifestations of racial and social inequality
are social justice issues that concern every group, regardless of race, ethnicity, gender or other societal
positioning. An affront to one member of our community is an affront to us all, and we will not stand for
close-minded behaviors or assumptions. We will not support or patronize any establishments that use
such assumptions as a basis for exclusion and/or discrimination. It is with this awareness and solidarity
that we stand together to fight injustice, whatever its form may be.

While the incident on November 20th was deeply disturbing, we recognize that it is not substantively
equal to issues that so many other people of color face in Boston and across the nation. The larger
community is still mourning the devastating loss of four individuals slain just a few short months ago in
Mattapan. The skyrocketing incarceration rates of minorities continue to leave voids in the families and
communities left behind. The recent cholera outbreak continues to wreak havoc on the people of Haiti,
and this impact resonates through the Boston area, which proudly boasts a robust Haitian community.

The reality is that discrimination and racial injustice know no boundaries. This recent incident is only
one narrative in a larger story of continued stereotyping and profiling that plagues countless Bostonians
and Americans; there is nothing special about the fact that many of the partygoers were from Harvard,
Yale and other educational institutions. We are not immune from the threat of bigotry and ignorance, but
we are committed to using this incident as a platform to draw attention to greater issues of injustice
occurring regionally and nationally.

We are writing this letter with the hope that it will provide a forum for candid, open and deliberative
conversations about societal inequities, the danger of stereotyping, and the ways people interact with
each other. It is our collective hope that as a community we will emerge more informed about issues of
injustice, more engaged with our fellow community members and more committed to not only acting
upon issues when they affect us personally, but also addressing them when they affect our neighbors.
More than ever, we recognize that injustice anywhere truly is a threat to justice everywhere. Today we
stand, committed to fighting that threat regardless of its form or intended victim.
Our efforts will not end here. Our resolve is strong. Our peers are engaged. We look forward to
expanding the dialogue on the impact of these issues on all people. We will work collaboratively to fight
back against prejudicial assumptions and manifestations of social inequality.

Sincerely,

Harvard Black Law Students Association
American Constitution Society- Harvard
Asian Pacific American Law Student Association- Harvard
Black Student Health Organization of Harvard School of Public Health
Harvard Caribbean Law Association
Harvard Graduate School of Education Black Student Union
Harvard Graduate School of Education Policy and Management
Harvard Immigration Project
Harvard Jewish Law Students Association
Harvard Journal of Law and Gender
Harvard Journal of Racial and Ethnic Justice
Harvard Lambda
Harvard Law and Health Care Society
Harvard Law School Advocates for Human Rights
Harvard Law School Alliance for Israel
Harvard Law School Justice for Palestine
Harvard NAACP
Harvard Law School National Lawyers Guild
Harvard Law School Student Bar Association
Harvard Law Students for Reproductive Justice
Harvard Transfer Student Organization
Massachusetts Black Women Attorneys
Middle East Law Students Association- Harvard
National Black Law Students Association
National Lawyers Guild- HLS Chapter
Prison Legal Assistance Project
Project No One Leaves
Scales of Justice A Cappella
South Asian Law Students Association- Harvard
Women’s Law Association- Harvard
More than 200 Individuals from the Harvard and Greater Boston Community

Click here for PDF version.

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Category: BLSA In The News

An Open Letter From The Harvard Black Law Students Association

April 30, 2010 //  by Harvard Law School

Dated April 29, 2010

Harvard BLSA denounces racially inflammatory language – The Harvard Black Law Students Association (HBLSA) strongly condemns the racially inflammatory email that was circulated among the entire Harvard Law School community. Like many individuals who read its content, we find the message to be deplorable and offensive. We are open to thoughtful discourse on even the most controversial of views, and yet we categorically reject the archaic notion that African-Americans are genetically inferior to white people. We recognize, however, that this issue is much larger than any single email or any particular student.

Harvard BLSA is not at fault – HBLSA did not cause, create, or instigate these events. HBLSA was not the initial recipient of the student’s controversial email. HBLSA did not forward the email to Above the Law or any other media outlet. HBLSA did not contact or meet with any other BLSA chapter regarding this email. HBLSA had no contact whatsoever with the author’s clerkship judge or future employer. Any information to the contrary is unfounded and patently false.

Harvard BLSA should not be the focus – It is unfortunate that HBLSA has become the center of this ordeal. We are disheartened that the reckless coverage of this controversy has shifted the nation’s attention away from the injustice and onto an unrelated third party. The real conversation—and all of the media coverage—should be about the unspoken assumptions and enduring racial prejudices that continually resurface throughout our nation. Simply put, the focus on HBLSA is misplaced.

Harvard BLSA recognizes the opportunity – After learning of this disappointing email and before this incident ever went viral, the outgoing and incoming HBLSA Presidents immediately sent an email to our members calling for a “well thought-out and strategic” response. We began brainstorming and soliciting ideas from our members to determine the best way to seize this opportunity. We called for strategies that would promote constructive dialogue and meaningful solutions, not those that would merely serve to further inflame racial prejudices. Moreover, we foresaw that sensationalized blogging would be reactive and counterproductive.

Harvard BLSA is moving forward – What is needed in this hour is a well-developed and effective course of action. After all, true advocacy is not a rash, knee-jerk, or emotionally charged response. Words are incredibly powerful. And as future attorneys, we realize that our words are our stock in trade. They can be used as a weapon to divide and tear down, or they can be used as a tool to unite and restore. HBLSA has chosen the latter approach. In so doing, HBLSA will continue to be a voice against injustice on our campus and in our community.

(pdf)

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Category: BLSA In The News

The Harvard Black Law Students Association Sweeps Northeastern Regional Trial Advocacy Competition

February 10, 2010 //  by Harvard Law School//  2 Comments

This past weekend, two teams of Harvard Law School students won first place and second place at the Northeastern Regional Thurgood Marshall Trial Advocacy Competition. The prestigious competition was held in Syracuse, New York between Thursday, January 28 and Saturday, January 30. This is Harvard’s second consecutive year winning first place at the competition.

Twenty trial advocacy teams from across the Northeastern Region participated in the competition. The two Harvard BLSA teams advanced undefeated to the final round to compete, Harvard versus Harvard, for the championship title. The first place team consisted of Ieshaah Murphy ’12, Julian Thompson ’10, Nneka Ukpai ’11, and Dominique Winters ‘10.  The second place team consisted of Charles E. Redmond II ’11, Anthony Hendricks ’12, Etienne Toussaint ’12, and Allison Reid ‘12.  In addition to the overall win, Ms. Reid secured a perfect score to win Best Advocate for the regional competition.

The teams owe a debt of gratitude to its esteemed coaches, CJI Deputy Director J. Soffiyah Elijah and CJI Clinical Instructor Dehlia Umunna. Without their dedication, patience, and hard work, this victory would not have been possible.  The team also sends a special thank you to Professor Ronald Sullivan for aiding both teams tremendously in their preparation for motions arguments.

The fact pattern involved charges of theft, theft of trade secrets, and breach of computer security against an industrial engineer. Ms. Murphy, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Redmond, and Mr. Hendricks represented the prosecution; Ms. Ukpai, Ms. Winters, Mr. Toussaint, and Ms. Reid represented the defense. The team members met weekdays and weekends for countless hours to prepare for the competition.

Both Harvard BLSA trial teams will be advancing to the National BLSA Trial Advocacy Competition. The competition will be held on March 11, 2010 in Boston, Massachusetts where the top three teams from each of the six regions will compete for the national title.  The two teams look forward to more victories in the near future.

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Category: BLSA In The NewsTag: blsa, trial advocacy

HLS team wins National Criminal Justice Trial Advocacy Competition

November 5, 2009 //  by Harvard Law School//  Leave a Comment

November 05, 2009

This past weekend, a team of Harvard Law students won first place at the 4th National Puerto Rico Trial Advocacy Competition in San Juan. The prestigious “invitation only” competition was sponsored by the Inter-American University of Puerto Rico School of Law and held at the Old San Juan District Courthouse Oct. 31-Nov. 1.

The HLS team, which advanced undefeated, consisted of 3L’s John Quinn, Julian Thompson, and Dominique Winters and 2L Nneka Ukpai. In addition to the overall win, Thompson won Best Cross-Examination and Best Closing Argument. Quinn earned a perfect score in the semi final round.

trial-advocacy-competition-11_04_09The team credited their win to the coaches, HLS Criminal Justice Institute Deputy Director J. Soffiyah Elijah and Clinical Instructor Dehlia Umunna. “The team owes a debt of gratitude to our esteemed coaches. Without their dedication, patience and hard work, this victory would not have been possible,” said Quinn.

The fact pattern involved charges of bribery and perjury against a sitting judge. Ukpai and Winters represented the prosecution; Quinn and Thompson represented the defendant. The team began practicing in late September and met several times a week, including Saturdays, in sessions that went past midnight.

Only teams that have won titles in past national competitions are invited to compete in the San Juan tournament. All eight teams participate in the initial rounds of trials. Judges and attorneys from around the country evaluate and score the competitors. The four teams with the highest scores advance to the semi-finals. Harvard defeated Stetson University in the semi-final round and went on to defeat defending champion, Barry University, in the six hour final round.

This year’s team members are no strangers to national trial competitions. Last year, Thompson, Ukpai and Winters, along with David Knight ’09, won the national BLSA competition. In that same year Knight, Ukpai and Winters, along with Eli Schlam ’09 took second place in the national American Bar Association Criminal Justice Section’s trial competition, co-sponsored by John Marshal Law School in Chicago. All four team members earned perfect scores. These teams were also coached by Elijah and Umunna.

The HLS trial team has an outstanding legacy of winning national trial competitions. The first victorious team included Professor Ronald Sullivan Jr. ’94, and Lecturer of Law Stephanie Robinson ’94. HLS last won the ABA competition in 2004 when team member Laura Ferry won Best Advocate.

The HLS trial team has been invited to return to San Juan next fall and to compete in the ABA tournament in Chicago this spring.

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Category: BLSA In The News

Welcome to the HBLSA Blog!

September 1, 2009 //  by Harvard Law School//  1 Comment

The Harvard Black Law Students Association (HBLSA) was founded in 1967. Today HBLSA is the largest chapter in the National Black Law Students Association. With well over 100 members, HBLSA is truly reflective of the diversity that exists within the black community of Harvard Law School.

We, the Black Law Students Association of Harvard Law School , exist for the support, guidance and direction of Black students in academic, professional and social endeavors. Our main function is to assist members in the development of their legal careers and to provide opportunities for exposure to various areas and aspects of the legal profession. We recognize the need to act positively in the development of the Black community, to encourage cooperation and closer ties between members of the Law School’s Black community and to establish a vehicle through which our concerns are brought to bear on Harvard Law School policy and the community at large.

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Category: BLSA In The News, For Members, Upcoming Events, Website Update

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