Constance Baker Motley was a trailblazing civil rights lawyer, judge, and politician who played a crucial role in the fight for racial justice in the United States. Born in 1921, she was the first Black woman to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court and helped litigate key desegregation cases as an attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, including Brown v. Board of Education. In 1966, she became the first Black woman appointed to the federal judiciary, serving as a U.S. District Judge for the Southern District of New York. Throughout her career, Motley broke numerous racial and gender barriers, leaving an enduring legacy in civil rights law and American jurisprudence.
Defining Myself Interview: https://youtu.be/g60qtIVEZPQ
Learn more about Constance Baker Motley here: https://blackhistory.news.columbia.edu/people/constance-baker-motley