MLK Day at King Hall
The School of Law once again held an energetic Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service and Celebration. The MLK Day Planning Committee and Black Law Students Association, along with the leadership of Director of Diversity and Student Life Alexis Elston and Senior Assistant Dean of Students Emily Scivoletto, organized a blood drive, naturalization workshop at the Mexican Consulate in Sacramento (to take place Jan. 21), and collected donations for the Malcolm X Academy, a full-time K-8 community homeschool. In addition to their site being a community homeschool, they regularly provide hot meals, groceries and various other services for the Black community and others in Sacramento. As they are a new program, they are in need of many donations.
The King Hall community celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. and the King Hall connection to Dr. King with a program and lunch. Alexis Elston gave a wonderful introduction to the program and welcomed the attendees. Speakers included Black Law Student Association Co-President Damian Cortez who introduced the keynote speaker, Judge Trina Thompson. The talk was available to watch via livestream for those who could not join in person.
Judge Trina L. Thompson is currently serving as a District Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, San Francisco division. Before her nomination to the federal bench in 2022, Judge Thompson served as a superior court judge in the Alameda County Rene C. Davidson Court for nearly twenty years. Judge Thompson has King Hall alum Jonathan Mireles '21 as a law clerk. She spoke of the need for lawyers to be patient in fighting for social justice. She offered the example of the monumental case of Brown v. Board of Education, which outlawed segregation in the public schools but took Thurgood Marshall and NAACP lawyers decades of planning and work.
I was able to meet Judge Thompson and see Jonathan Mireles, who served as one of my research assistants. It was a great way to celebrate King Day!