Jackson Free Press

Passionate is one word to describe Catherine Sullivan, the executive director of Grace House. Her passion for social justice is obvious in her work with the vulnerable and voiceless citizens of Jackson.

Sullivan grew up in Greenville, the daughter of Hodding Carter III and the granddaughter of Hodding Carter Jr. Both men were progressive southern newspaper publishers who dared to challenge the strict caste system that was pervasive during the mid 20th century. Their Delta Democrat Times was one of the first publications to provide courtesy titles to African Americans. They boldly featured the great track star, Jesse Owens, on the front page when he achieved international fame by winning four gold medals during the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, Germany.

The Carters were committed to using media to highlight the injustices of the day and were notorious for writing spirited editorials against the bigoted Citizens Council.

With a lineage so impassioned by social justice, it's no wonder that Sullivan works to provide equal access to those less able to advocate for themselves. Sullivan, 55, also inherited a fighter spirit, a quick sense of humor, and a sharply analytical sense of reasoning from her father and grandfather.

"I was born into a passion for social justice," Sullivan says. "My grandfather (and father) had reached levels of understanding concerning the human condition, such that they could no longer tolerate injustice."

She received a bachelor's degree in politics from Princeton University. From 1982 to '84, she worked for a stint at "Inside Story," a TV program that rated media on how well they covered stories. Sullivan then earned a law degree from Tulane University in New Orleans. She says that law school gave her the tools to be analytical, to see the gray areas in life.

"There are daily examples of how easily we decide something is black or white, based on the one example—when in reality, ... the truth lies in the middle," Sullivan says. "This works while trying to understand race and every other issue with which we are confronted."

After law school, Sullivan clerked for former Mississippi Supreme Court Justices James L. Robertson and Reuben V. Anderson. She married former Mississippi Supreme Court Justice Michael D. Sullivan and began applying her legal skills and activism at work with the Jackson chapter of Parents for Public Schools.

These days, though, Sullivan has found the next step in her lifelong path of promoting human rights and social justice.

"My work and life experiences have lead me to Grace House," she says. The organization provides people with HIV/AIDS with a place to live with dignity and grace.

When it comes to what makes Jackson special, "it is the challenge," Sullivan says simply—a challenge she is rising to meet.