Thursday, June 02, 2016

Civil Rights Icon still Answering the Call

Few Americans of any stripe fought harder, longer, or more successfully for civil rights progress than Nathaniel R. Jones. After his appointment by President Carter, Judge Jones served for 23 years on the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. Prior thereto, Jones’ distinguished career brought him to Cleveland as the first African American to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio. Later he served a decade as NAACP General Counsel [1969-1079]. He also taught at Harvard Law School and has been a pioneer for civil and human rights both at home and abroad.

Jones is the featured and honored guest at a continuing legal education workshop this afternoon from 3pm-5:30pm. The event is co-sponsored by The Cleveland Branch NAACP along with Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. Admission is $35, which includes a copy of his recently published memoir, Answering the Call. The book is an incredibly rich, frank and intimate account of his years in the civil rights struggle, beginning with his years growing up in Youngstown.

Cleveland NAACP president Michael Nelson will moderate the program, which will also include attorneys James Hardiman and Cheryl Mabry Thomas, director of the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. For more information, call the NAACP office, 216.231.6260.