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Charles J. Ogletree, Jr., A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr.: A Reciprocal Legacy of Scholarship and Advocacy, 53 Rutgers. L. Rev. 665 (2001).


Abstract: In his seventy years on this earth, Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr., accomplished more than most could even imagine accomplishing in 170 years. His advocacy and scholarship spanned his entire lifetime, and he has left us a treasure trove of brilliant ideas, incredible accomplishments, and unprecedented challenges for the twenty-first century. His advocacy started at a very young age, engendered by working-class parents, who invested their only child with a sense of honor, integrity, and pride in being African American. It continued in his teen years, when he began to see the pervasive power of racism, in America and abroad, and made a commitment to use his considerable gifts to fight racism wherever it raised its ugly head. His advocacy continued during his adult years, as he found problems of even greater magnitude, and used his role as judge, statesman, teacher, and scholar to expose the evil of racism in every venue where it existed. It continues even today, as the prescient proclamations found in his writings and speeches remind us never to give up the fight for racial justice. It is also embodied in the advocacy and scholarship of thousands of devoted "Higginbotham Warriors," who continue his legacy by fighting the kinds of battles he fought so valiantly for seventy years. We can never be as great as he was, but we can further his dreams by fighting the never-ending struggle for racial justice in courtrooms, classrooms, legal journals, public forums, and even private ...