CBA Record January-February 2022

WILLIAM HASTIE: GRACE UNDER PRESSURE by Gilbert Ware

Chicagoans are proud that U.S. District Court Judge James B. Parsons was appointed the first Black federal district court judge in the continental United States. The first Black federal judge was William Hastie, a federal district court judge for the U.S. Virgin Islands and later a judge for the Third Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals. A brilliant Amherst student and a member of the Harvard Law Review, he became a top aide in Roosevelt’s War Department (from which he resigned to protest segregationist polices), Dean of Howard University Law School, and Governor of the U.S. Virgin Islands. This biography deservedly lifts Hastie from relative obscurity. Recommended by G. A. Finch, Partner at Hoogendoorn & Talbot LLP

SOMEBODY’S DAUGHTER by Ashley C. Ford

Somebody’s Daughter is a beautifully written and compelling memoir. The book is simple yet powerful, tender, and vulnerable. Ford recounts her story of growing up as a poor Black girl in Indiana. She describes how isolating and chaotic her childhood was. She details her complex relationships with various family members including her mother, grandmother, and father. The book largely deals with her tumultuous relationship with her mother, a single mother raising four children, trying to make ends meet. Ford’s father was largely absent from her life due to his incarceration. Ford recounts several traumatic events in her life, including being sexually assaulted by her high school boyfriend. Ultimately, she finds the strength to accept her past and “to feel like somebody’s daughter.” Recommended by Iris Y. Chavira, Division Chief and Senior Administrative Law Judge, City of Chicago Department of Administrative Hearings

HOMEGOING by Yaa Gyasi

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi is an astonishing novel about an African family split apart by the slave trade. The book chronicles the lives of family members as they journey through warfare, from Ghana to America. The parallel narratives captivate the reader, all while discussing themes involving slavery, colonialism, segregation, and redemption. These intertwined threads leave little to the imagination and provide a somber look into the terrible impact of slavery for generations. The book is insightful, intimate, and powerful. By Kernisha Padilla, Conflicts Attorney, Blank Rome

THE COLOR OF MONEY: BLACK BANKS AND THE RACIAL WEALTH GAP by Mehrsa Baradaran

This book examines America’s racial wealth gap through the lens of Black banking. The author questions why the Black community’s total wealth remains stagnant, growing from 0.5% of the U.S. economy in 1863 to only 1% today. Fredrick Douglass, W.E.B. Dubois, Booker T. Washington, and every president since Nixon has endorsed Black banking. However, The Color of Money concludes Black banks cannot be relied on to ameliorate inequality because they function in a largely segregated economy. Banks can only serve as wealth creators with a base of big deposits and fairly stable loans, unavailable on a large scale within the Black community. This is a must-read for those interested in racial or economic history. Recommended by Maggie Mendenhall Casey, Assistant Corporation Counsel, City of Chicago Department of Law

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