Guardian of Progress: Bernette Joshua Johnson

This presentation by Dr. Nghana Lewis will feature a chapter of the book project, "A Plan and a Purpose": How Black Women (Re)Defined Louisiana's Legal, Political, and Cultural Landscapes After Brown.  

The chapter addresses the contributions of Retired Chief Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson and focuses on her term as an associate justice on the Louisiana Supreme Court when she also served as president of the National Bar Association, the United States' oldest network of Black attorneys and judges. Justice Johnson was "on an island" in insisting that an invitation to serve as an NBA conference keynote speaker extended to Justice Clarence Thomas, then a relatively new U.S. Supreme Court associate justice, should not be rescinded. Dr. Lewis highlights Justice Johnson's positioning, in this instance, as evidence of the consistency with which she served as a protector of progress over the course of her illustrious career as a public servant and jurist. The presentation will draw on the Bernette Joshua Johnson papers, a collection held by Amistad Research Center. Register at the following link: https://tulane.libcal.com/event/13765672

Dr. Lewis is an associate professor of English and Africana Studies, a faculty affiliate at Tulane University Law School, and an adjunct professor with the Department of Psychology.