WelCome BaCk to DeI ! let toDay Be the Start of SomethIng neW !
Diversity , Equity & Inclusion Committee
Continued from page 30
The next event planned is the Diversity Membership Luncheon where HCBA members will have the opportunity to listen to a member of the community who is promoting diversity in the law . This event will take place on January 16 at the Marriott Water Street Tampa . DEI believes that promoting diversity is still important to today ’ s legal community and encourages everyone to attend .
Also in January , DEI in partnership with both the George Edgecomb Bar Association ( GEBA ) and the Military & Veterans Affairs Committee of the HCBA ( MVAC ), will be hosting a continuing legal education ( CLE ) class on January 26 based on the book “ Unexplained
Courage ,” by Judge Richard Gergel . 1 Judge Gergel will be the guest speaker at the CLE . Judge Gergel ’ s book is based upon Sgt . Isaac Woodard , a decorated African American veteran , who was removed from a Greyhound bus in 1946 , in Batesburg , South Carolina , after he challenged his disrespectful treatment by the bus driver . Once the police arrived , Sgt . Woodard , while in uniform , was arrested by the local police chief , Lynwood Shull . While in custody , Sgt . Woodard was beaten and blinded . Upon learning of this event , President Harry S . Truman established the first presidential commission on civil rights . The Justice Department also filed charges against Shull . The book notes this incident changed the course of civil rights history in America . This is definitely a CLE that you won ’ t want to miss !
We at DEI are always looking for new members and new event ideas . So please come and join us at DEI . Together we can continue to make this section and our Tampa Bay community a great place to be ! n
1
Gergel , Richard . Unexplained
Courage-The Blinding of Sgt . Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of America ( 2019 ).
Author : Amy Casanova- Ward – FL Dept . of Financial Services
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