“Dismantling injustice, pursuing lasting change” – that is the motto of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs. We adopted this motto as part of the celebration of our 50th Anniversary last year. This motto is meant to reflect our commitment to the use of the law to vindicate violations of rights and also our commitment to repairing the damage of a long, shameful history of oppression and discrimination.

Last week at our Wiley A. Branton Awards Luncheon, we came together to reflect the work that has been done over the past year to dismantle injustice and celebrate our award winners that have committed themselves and their organizations to pursuing lasting change. We heard from Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton, our Branton Award recipient and lifelong champion of civil rights both within the District and throughout the country. Free Minds Book Club and Writing Workshop received the Reed Award for their work using cultural expression to create equity and justice. We had the honor of hearing from a Free Minds member who was recently released from prison after 35 years, as he delivered a powerful poem written by a currently incarcerated member. Christine Webber fittingly received the Rod Boggs Award, recognizing her commitment to and partnership with the Committee and our work. We honored the Outstanding Achievement Award winners, area lawyers, law firms and other professionals that have contributed thousands of hours of their time co-counseling cases with the Committee.

For those of you who were not able to join us, I encourage you to take a look at event photos on our Facebook page, and watch the powerful testimonies of two of our brave clients, Sonya Zollicoffer and Maurice Alexander.

Thank you for your partnership and support. Together, we are dismantling injustice and pursuing lasting change.

Gratefully,

Jonathan Smith
Executive Director

On Wednesday, June 26th, the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs convened with the legal and corporate community to celebrate the last year and honor those that have made an important difference in the cause of civil rights.

Wiley A. Branton Awards Luncheon
Wednesday, June 26, 2019
Networking: 11:30 am – 12:00 pm
Program & Lunch: 12:00 pm – 1:45 pm
JW Marriott
1331 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington, DC

The Wiley A. Branton Award
The Honorable Eleanor Holmes Norton

Wiley A. Branton was a tireless advocate for civil rights and equal justice throughout his entire career – as a private practitioner in Arkansas, a leader of federal agencies in Washington, and a Dean of the Howard University School of Law. The Wiley A. Branton Award is annually bestowed upon members of the legal community whose careers embody a deep and abiding commitment to civil rights and economic justice advocacy. To read more about The Wiley A. Branton Award, click here. 

The Vincent E. Reed Award
Free Minds

The Vincent E. Reed Award was first presented by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee in 2003. The award is given in the name of Dr. Vincent Reed, the distinguished educator whose encouragement and support were directly responsible for the Committee’s decision to establish its public education support programs. To read more about The Vincent E. Reed Award, click here. 

The Rod Boggs Award
Christine Webber

Over a long and distinguished career, Rod Boggs has left an indelible mark on the civil rights and anti-poverty law landscape in our city and beyond. Rod’s work as the executive director of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee, and earlier as a staff attorney at the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, has extended nearly five decades beginning in 1969. He contributed to advances in virtually every area of civil rights law and raised the profile of pro bono practice in the legal profession. To read more about The Rod Boggs Award, click here. 

The Outstanding Achievement Awards
Staff Selection

The Washington Lawyers’ Committee partners with the private bar and nonprofits to provide legal assistance to individuals and communities who experience violations of their civil rights.  Each year, area lawyers and law firms contribute thousands of hours of their time on cases and projects. During the Wiley A. Branton Awards Luncheon, the Committee recognizes these important law firm and advocacy organization partnerships through Outstanding Achievement Awards. To view the 2019 recipients, click here.

Wiley A. Branton was a tireless advocate for civil rights and equal justice throughout his entire career—as a private practitioner in Arkansas, a leader of federal agencies in Washington, and a Dean of the Howard University School of Law. The Wiley A. Branton Award is annually bestowed upon members of the legal community whose careers embody a deep and abiding commitment to civil rights and economic justice advocacy.

wiley branton
Wiley A. Branton, Sr.

Dean Branton started his career in private practice in Arkansas in the 1950’s, representing African-American criminal defendants in often racially charged prosecutions. Working with Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP, he took on some of the most significant civil rights cases in the South, including the representation of the Freedom Riders in Mississippi, who were arrested for desegregating public transportation and public accommodations.

Among his most notable cases was the litigation that desegregated the Little Rock public schools. It was Dean Branton’s injunction that led to President Eisenhower calling out federal troops to escort African-American students to school. From 1962 to 1965, he led the Voter Education Project in Atlanta. During the three years he was at the helm, the project registered more than 600,000 African Americans to vote.

President Lyndon Johnson appointed Dean Branton to lead the President’s Council on Equal Opportunity and then to work on the implementation of the Civil Rights Act as special assistant to the United States Attorney General. In 1967, he became executive director of the United Planning Organization, the District of Columbia’s anti-poverty agency. Two years later, he directed the social action program of the Alliance for Labor Action.

From 1978 to 1983, Mr. Branton was dean of Howard University Law School. During his tenure at Howard, he dedicated himself to the training of the next generation of civil rights advocates.

Following Dean Branton’s death in 1988, his friend Justice Thurgood Marshall remembered him as a great man who “believed in people and believed in what was right.’’

Wiley Branton was an inspiration to everyone who had the privilege of knowing and working with him. He personified the legal profession’s ideal of pro bono service that is at the heart of the Washington Lawyers’ Committee’s missionThe Wiley A. Branton Award was first bestowed by the Washington Lawyers’ Committee in 1989. It takes its name from Wiley A. Branton, Sr., an extraordinary man whose life embodied civil rights advocacy of the highest order.

CLICK HERE FOR PREVIOUS AWARD RECIPIENTS 
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