Tell us about your community growing up. Looking back, how did they shape who you are now?

I am a proud Mississippian, born and raised in Liberty, Mississippi—a rural town of a little over 700 people—and in the Mississippi Delta, where I attended high school. My community growing up was primarily working-class, Black, and Missionary Baptist. My family is made up of teachers, preachers, small business owners, and healthcare workers who were always supportive of my dream to one day become a legal advocate. My great uncle, Eldridge W. Steptoe, was involved in the struggle to secure voting rights for Black Mississippians in Liberty well before national organizations made it to our little town. Local people like him fought for a better future for my generation and future generations in the face of serious racist violence, including the lynching of my uncle’s friend, Herbert Lee, who was also involved in the local voter registration effort. My community’s faith and commitment to supporting one another played a major role in shaping my own commitment to social justice and career path.

At the same time, Mississippi was not the best place for a queer, young Black person to grow up. I have been really grateful for the strong Black, queer community I have built since I first left Mississippi to attend the University of Southern California for college. My “chosen” family plays an important role in my life and is a constant reminder of the amazing opportunities made possible when otherwise underrepresented communities come together to support one another.

Describe your journey to law school. What motivated you to apply?

I grew up in a community of working-class people with working-class problems. A divorce or arrest could be financially detrimental, and when I looked around, there were very few lawyers in general that my community could call on, let alone lawyers of color. I had an interest in becoming a lawyer from a young age, because I thought I could better advocate for communities like my own with a law degree. I did not grow up with lawyers in my family or knowing much about the legal profession, so I sought out support and thankfully had the opportunity to participate in the UCLA Law Fellows Program, which helped demystify the process and exposed me to law students and practicing attorneys of color.

I decided I wanted to get some real-world experience between undergraduate and law school, so I moved from Los Angeles to New York City to work as a strategy consultant. During my first year working in New York, Trayvon Martin’s killer was acquitted, and I decided to make the transition to the nonprofit sector. During my time as a nonprofit consultant, I worked with a philanthropic organization that was considering how to invest in the burgeoning movement for Black lives. I met amazing lawyers through that work, across the United States, Africa, and the Caribbean, who were committed to using their training in support of social justice. I decided that I would go to law school so I could build that same skillset and apply it to the issues and for the communities I cared about.

What was your law school experience like?

Probably driven more by Elle Woods than anything else, I had my heart set on going to Harvard Law School. I met some of my best friends there, primarily individuals thinking about how they could use their careers as “social engineer[s]” as Charles Hamilton Houston once remarked. I was involved in our Black Law Students Association and our Queer and Trans People of Color group throughout. While the legal profession is far from diverse, the size of Harvard’s law school class made it possible for me to find a strong contingent of students from diverse backgrounds to learn from and grow with. My favorite (and the most challenging) part of law school was probably serving clients in local courts and state agencies as a student attorney with the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau. My clinic experience is where I realized my love for legal writing, lawyering with and for social movements, and the ways attorneys can help create positive outcomes for their clients.

Did you know about appellate work in law school? If not, when and how did it first get on your radar and why were you drawn to it?

I had relatively limited exposure to appellate work in law school. My first substantive exposure was probably during my clerkship for the Honorable Carlton W. Reeves at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Mississippi. Judges from the District Court and the Court of Appeals had their chambers in the same court in Jackson, so clerks had the opportunity to interact with the Fifth Circuit judges. I decided I wanted to explore appellate work, however, when I served as a Skadden Fellow in St. Louis, Missouri, working with families who had lost loved ones to deaths at the hands of police and corrections officers. Primarily because the defendants in my cases could appeal lower court decisions denying them qualified immunity, I had quick exposure to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit. The appellate practice was different from my primarily trial-focused practice, and through helping on some of the briefing on appeal, I decided I wanted to learn more.

Tell us about one of your appellate cases that you found particularly meaningful.

I was exceptionally lucky to have the opportunity to clerk for the Honorable Robert L. Wilkins on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. While I cannot talk about the actual cases that came before him that year, having Judge Wilkins as a boss was an unforgettable experience and he remains an important mentor as I have entered the appellate field. In my current role as an associate at Jenner & Block, I have had the opportunity to work on several interesting cases, including a pro bono amicus brief on behalf of the ACLU and the Howard University School of Law Civil Rights Clinic in an appeal before the Supreme Court challenging the conviction of Richard Glossip, a man wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death in Oklahoma. The amicus brief gave our team the opportunity to work with an amazing group of law students (and future advocates) at Howard Law, while showcasing the impact of prosecutorial misconduct on the lives of the accused for the Court. This was exactly the kind of advocacy I hoped to be able to take on when I decided to become a lawyer and enter the appellate field.

How often do you encounter other LGBTQ+ individuals, particularly those of color, in the appellate field? Why do you think that representation is important?

I have been lucky to work for judges and organizations that have been committed to working with talent from diverse backgrounds. I am also at a law firm where several leaders are openly members of the LGBTQ+ community. Even so, the reality has been that I am often the only Black attorney in many spaces, especially when it comes to the appellate bar. I decided to become a TAP mentor primarily for this reason, because I think it is critical that people who would otherwise be left outside of this field have not only representation but support as they consider whether this work is for them.

What advice would you give to a law student of color who aspires to be where you are now?

I would offer three pieces of advice. First, build a community around you that you can lean on throughout this journey, because the legal profession (while it has made some strides) is still overwhelmingly failing to create inclusive and sustainable pathways for people from diverse backgrounds. Having a community to lean on and remind you why you decided to enter this work is critical to staying on the path. Second, be open to new (and potentially unexpected) professional opportunities. I never would have imagined during law school that I would clerk at an appellate court or work in appellate law, but each step along the journey led me here. Third, share what you have learned with others. Serving as a mentor or taking calls from aspiring lawyers and clerks is a commitment, but I gain so much energy and inspiration from being able to support someone else who is considering this field.

What’s one thing law schools and/or the appellate bar can do to ensure our highest courts are representative of all our communities?

From my vantage point, a major problem that should be addressed by the appellate bar is the retention of lawyers who come from diverse backgrounds. Organizations like TAP are critical, because the path is often opaque, mentors and sponsors are limited (especially for lawyers of color), and the work is challenging, both substantively and in terms of the economics of maintaining an appellate practice. Opening the door is one thing, but committing to shining a light so lawyers from all of our communities can see and walk the path to leadership in the appellate bar is a critical step that sometimes feels missing.