Jackson Free Press

Political awareness has been a theme of many groups across the country in recent months; even the MTV Video Music Awards turned this year's show into a rally to get young people to vote.

Closer to home, the Magnolia Bar Association is trying to contribute to the growing educational-political buzz. On Aug. 28, the African-American attorneys' group, sponsored a political summit at the Tougaloo College Health and Wellness Center. Lasting from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., the summit included several panels of guests discussing topics from the upcoming 2004 political campaigns, judicial redistricting, voter identification/voter rights, drug court and education.

The Tougaloo Summit is one of the MBA's annual projects to help improve and educate the African-American community in Jackson. Derrick Johnson, state director of the NAACP, says that this forum was an opportunity for MBA members to educate individuals on what can be done to get involved in their communities. "The Magnolia Bar identified to individuals what the interesting issues are in the upcoming elections," he said. Specifically, he spoke of voter rights and voter identification, topics he called "the linchpins in the African-American community."

Tianna Hill, an attorney with Forman, Perry, Watkins, Krutz and Tardy, and a co-chairwoman of the Summit organizing committee, said the summit turnout was a bit less than expected. "We advertised with all the radio stations, both secular and gospel, and print outlets, as well as appeared on the news, so we thought there would be a large turnout," she said. Still, Hill said, the forum was inspiring to those who were in attendance. "One of the best moments for me was when Constance Slaughter Harvey, whose subject was voting rights and voter identification, spoke. She tied in the history of the Magnolia Bar with her discussion. Her points paralleled what was done in the bar association during the times of civil rights and what we face today in the upcoming elections."

The Magnolia Bar Association has been a part of the African-American law community since 1955. It was first organized in the Farish Street law offices of Attorney Jack H. Young Sr. At that time, under Jim Crow segregation, it was illegal for blacks to go to law school in Mississippi; therefore, many of the members had to obtain their law degrees in other states. The bar association today has a membership of more than 100 black lawyers, including judges, prosecutors, assistant district attorneys, an assistant attorney general and a legal services counselor.