In support of our comrade, Chokwe Lumumba

Dear comrades:

 

Chokwe Lumumba is a fellow comrade -- an activist and an attorney.  We are including links to information about his story and his struggle.  He has taken up the fight for racial, social, and economic justice -- and as we all know, when you speak truth to power and the powers get upset that you confront their unjust decisions, they will try to punish you.  In Chokwe Lumumba's case, he spoke out against a judge who was biased and unfair towards his client, and he was disbarred in Mississippi for six months.  Now eight months later, he still has not been reinstated.   http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/news/1770; http://www.prisonactivist.org/pipermail/prisonact-list/2005-April/009811.html;

 

The Guild has written an official letter of support for his reinstatement and we have done so as well, on behalf of TUPOCC.  We are pasting the letter below, and are honored to write in support of our role model and comrade.

 

A la lucha,

Ranya, Renee, y Matt

________________________

 

Mr. Adam Kilgore

General Counsel

Mississippi Bar

PO Box 2168

Jackson, MS 39225-2168

 

Re:     Reinstatement Petition of Mr. Chokwe Lumumba

 

Dear Mr. Kilgore:

 

We are writing on behalf of The United People of Color Caucus of the National Lawyers Guild to express our support for the reinstatement of our fellow advocate, Chokwe Lumumba.  For decades, Mr. Lumumba has demonstrated an exemplary commitment to principled advocacy on behalf of the people he serves as well as to the struggle for justice and equality.

 

The United People of Color Caucus, or TUPOCC, is a caucus within the National Lawyers Guild.  We are comprised of legal activists of color, including lawyers, law students, and legal workers.  Part of our mission is to promote the role of people of color as leaders in the legal profession and to advocate on behalf of the interests of communities of color and the poor at all levels of legal practice and activism.

 

As we reach out and encourage people of color to pursue careers as lawyers and legal workers, we are motivated and emboldened by the presence of advocates like Mr. Lumumba in the legal profession, whose commitment to passionate, principled, and zealous representation of the interests of his clients (who are often amongst the most marginalized and forgotten in society) serves as an example to all of us that the pursuit of justice entails speaking truth to power, and that speaking truth to power entails great personal and professional risk.  Mr. Lumumba has courageously taken such risks on behalf of the people he serves.  This is what it means to be a true advocate.

                                                                                                                        

In addition, Mr. Lumumba’s efforts at working with universities to prioritize the recruitment and retention of students of color are a testament to his belief that it is not merely through the application of the law that we may work towards a more just society, but that it is also through the very practice of the law that we may promote equality, such that the legal profession itself must become reflective of the diverse and unique experiences of the poor and the marginalized.  For Mr. Lumumba, the practice of law must not only be for the people, but also of and by the people.  This, too, is an inspiration to all of us.

 

There are times in all of our lives when our consciences compel us to speak out passionately about instances of injustice or oppression.  Indeed, that is what all the great leaders and advocates of our time and times past have done, and it is from their courage that we derive an individual and a collective will to, simply put, “do the right thing” – especially when it seems that all odds are against us.   For young legal activists entering the field of law precisely because they want to “do the right thing,” Mr. Lumumba is a role model and a mentor. For individuals and communities experiencing injustice or seeking enforcement of their rights, Mr. Lumumba is a true advocate. We know that he has inspired so many people in Mississippi and throughout the United States through his efforts– students, lawyers, legal activists, and clients alike.

 

We join our voices with the many in support of his reinstatement.

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Ranya Ghuma, Renee Sanchez, & Matt Nelson

Co-Chairs, The United People of Color Caucus

The National Lawyers Guild

 

cc:       Lumumba, Freelon & Associates

Hon. Jaribu Hill, President, Magnolia Bar

         

TUPOCC Co-Chairs:
Renee Sanchez
Ranya A. Ghuma

http://www.nlg.org/TUPOCC/TUPOCChome.html