CBA Record March-April 2022

Women’s History Month: Gender Equality Today The Chicago Bar Association is pleased to celebrate 2022Women’s HistoryMonth, which commemorates and encourages the study and celebration of the role of women in American history. The CBA is sponsoring a series of educational CLE events throughout March. Register for events (and access the on-demand recordings) at learn.chicagobar.org. Additionally, the CBA’s DICE Com mittee challenges you to readmore, starting with a fewWomen’s History Month themed suggestions courtesy of CBAmembers.

The Princess Spy by Larry Loftis Th is book is a true story about young woman from a small town in New York who became a model and then moved to Madrid during World War II to become a spy and later a Spanish Countess. Aline Gri ffi th had great patriotism and wanted to help the war e ff ort, which was a stretch for a young female in the 1940s. A

Three Girls from Bronzeville: A Uniquely Ame rican Memoir of Race, Fate, and Sisterhood by Dawn Turner Th is book has been acclaimed by major reviewers and given numerous awards by the literary community. As a Chicagoan from the city’s South Side, I was immedia tely intrigued by the book’s title, as it brought to mind

dinner conversation launched her journey as one of the fi rst students at what became known as the CIA’s “Farm,” joining the O ffi ce of Strategic Services (OSS). Gri ffi th leveraged her social and language skills, intelligence, courage, and beauty to uncover intelligence secrets from unsuspecting Nazi o ffi cers. Th e author weaves the facts about her life – fancy parties, beautiful clothes, gunshots – with colorful characters ranging from bull fi ghters to Spanish dictator Franco, to draw you into the captivating real world of Aline’s spy craft. Recommended by Patty McCarthy, LexisNexis and Member of CBA Board of Managers.

many friends and moments in my life. I visualized the neighborhood, which in its golden era was a place where people like Earl B. Dickerson and other notable Black men and women cultivated their entrepre neurship skills. To this day, the kick- o ff location for the renowned Bud Biliken Parade and home of the Chicago Defender remain in Bronzeville. But beyond the nostalgia, the book is an important read for women who today must weigh their aspirations against challen ges, new or renewed, as they navigate their dreams. Th ree Girls , as I refer to it, is a tale of how the naïve and ambitious expectations of childhood collide with the realities of love, adult life, and violence in an urban setting. For me, it depicted the bifurcation of life in the African American community and life in the broader world. Th e book challenges the reader to understand a simple parable that life will not always turn out to be what you hope or what others think they see. It is a cautionary tale told through the eyes of its protagonists who each experience the unexpected but inevitable in their lives, de fi ned by the limitations of a community regardless of their goals. It is a universal story about the proverbial “best laid plans” that calls out to be heeded by its readers—particularly for the women will hear the narrator speak on each page. It is instructive for women, who in most global societies carry extraordinary burdens of family and life with the unspoken expectation that they will fi nd a way to manage it all. Th is overarching theme is one that women, regardless of their socioeconomic strata, will fi nd immensely relatable. Succinctly, it is a must-read for everyone! Recommended by Nina Fain, CBA Board of Managers and CBA DICE Committee Co-chair.

Dead ManWalking by Sister Helen Prejean Dead ManWalking tells of Sister Helen Prejean’s expe rience as a spiritual advisor to condemned men awaiting execution in the electric chair in Louisiana’s Angola State Prison. In 1982, Prejean, a member of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Medaille, agreed to correspond with Patrick Sonnier, a convicted rapist and murderer. Her

counsel took hold, as Sonnier died repentant. Th e book’s importance centers on Prejean, who begins as a frail but courageous soul, utterly out of place inside a prison, and winds up as a fi erce spokeswoman for the right to life—even of those who have taken the lives of others. Her arguments against capital punishment are well known but preached with passion: Th e death penalty is racist, barbaric, and doesn’t deter crime. We know that innocent people get killed because the justice system is not without human error. Perhaps her most powerful insights arise from the grim details of execution, both in the degradation of the long weeks of waiting and in the torture of the execution itself—which involves, says Prejean, extreme physical and mental pain. A statement from a lawyer in the book summarizes the theme: “it is easy to kill a monster, but hard killing a human being.” I have met Sister Prejean several times, and her insights and personal experiences working with death row inmates have further solidi fi ed my opposition to the death

All In: An Autobiography of Billie Jean King by Billie Jean King, with Johnette Howard and Mary anne Vollers Even if you know nothing about tennis, All In is a necessary read for anyone wanting an entertaining way to understand where we have come from and the work that remains for equality and women’s rights. Th e

penalty. Th e book is a good reminder of the powerful, lasting impac t ded i ca t ed women l ike Si ster Prejean are making to improve the American justice system. Recommended by E. Lynn Grayson, Nijman Franzetti LLP and CBA President.

book chronicles King’s life, from her childhood in California learning tennis on the public tennis courts, to her work today with the King Leadership Initiative. Along the journey we are reminded about life before Title IX, the establishment of the Women’s Professional Tennis Tour, King’s historic “Battle of the Sexes” tennis match against Bobby Riggs, the fi ght for equal prize money for women athletes, and the price King paid when her sexuality was outed. Th roughout the book King shares her personal and public challenges as she tries to help move the world to a more equal and just place. Her story will inspire any reader to add their voice to the fi ght. Recommended by Meghan ODonnell, Lexis Nexis and Co-Chair of the CBA Alliance for Women.

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