- 248 pages
- English
- ePUB (mobile friendly)
- Available on iOS & Android
About this book
This inspiring memoir begins in 1983, on the day John Charles Thomas was sworn in as the first Black—and, at thirty-two years of age, the youngest—justice of the Supreme Court of Virginia in the commonwealth's history. This high point was preceded, however, by a life that began in a home broken by poverty, alcoholism, and violence, and the segregated schools and neighborhoods of postwar Norfolk. How this triumph against such tremendous odds came about is no feel-good story or fable but a real-life journey full of poignant stories.
This eloquent memoir is the work of a man who cares deeply about language. In addition to being a social justice pioneer, Judge Thomas is an accomplished poet who has recited his poetry to a Carnegie Hall audience and who here reflects on his twin loves of poetry and the law. As he chronicles his trajectory from the "wrong side of the tracks" in Norfolk to the supreme court bench in Richmond, he takes us from his difficult beginnings to a professional life as a Virginia lawyer, recounts his international travels, and shares his encounters with world leaders such as Chuck Robb and Mikhail Gorbachev. Thomas's memoir highlights these lofty meetings but also relates with candor the challenges he encountered as he battled the systemic racism that suffuses U.S. society to this day.
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Information
Table of contents
- Cover
- Title Page
- Copyright Page
- Contents
- Foreword, by W. Taylor Reveley III
- Preface
- 1. The First and the Youngest
- 2. Injury, Poetry, and Childhood
- 3. Education, Racism, and Meeting JFK
- 4. Family Life, Integration, and Broken Glass
- 5. Survival, Resilience, and Bible School
- 6. Real Jobs, Life Lessons, and Humiliation
- 7. Segregated Schools, Role Models, and Leadership
- 8. White School and Surprises
- 9. UVA and Isolation
- 10. Leadership and Conflict at UVA
- 11. Going on Television, Graduating, and Law School
- 12. Studying Law and Being a Law Clerk
- 13. Finishing Law School, Passing the Bar, and Working at Hunton
- 14. The White Firm, All-Nighters, and Brilliance
- 15. Cocktail Parties, Making Partner, and Getting Married
- 16. The Life of a Justice, a Brain Tumor, and Leaving the Court
- 17. Wrestling with Jefferson and Confronting Racism
- 18. World Travel and Lecturing at West Point
- 19. The Poetic Justice and Carnegie Hall
- Afterword
- Acknowledgments