From Constitutional Law Class to Published Author: Zaakir Tameez's Unexpected Journey
"This is what [Charles Sumner] believed was necessary to secure the gains of reconstruction for the long term: mentoring young people so they could continue the fight after he was gone." - Zaakir Tameez
TAP Alum Zaakir Tameez never planned on writing a book. It wasn’t until a day in his constitutional law class—while reading the brief Justice Thurgood Marshall filed in Brown v. Board of Education during his time at the NAACP—that he noticed Charles Sumner, a Civil War-era Massachusetts senator, cited more than 40 times. Zaakir took note that "more than 100 years before Brown v. Board, Charles Sumner collaborated on the first interracial legal team in American history on an appellate case to integrate the schools of Boston."
"I was so startled by the story that I felt it needed to be told again," Zaakir recalls. What he found in Sumner was something many law students struggle to locate: a constitutional figure worth respecting. "I think we live in a moment where we as Americans are looking for heroes in our past that we can respect and value," he explains.
In Sumner, a key architect of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, Zaakir discovered someone whose legal work aligned with his own values and offered lessons for contemporary advocates. That classroom moment has come to fruition in Zaakir's first book, Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation, which chronicles the senator's pivotal role in crafting the Reconstruction Amendments and his strategic approach to advancing civil rights through law and mentorship.
Planning for Tomorrow's Legal Challenges
What fascinated Zaakir about Sumner wasn't just his legal victories, but his approach to building lasting change. Sumner understood that advancing civil rights required cultivating future advocates, not just winning individual cases. While other abolitionists celebrated after the Civil War, "Charles Sumner was thinking strategically about what legislative reforms needed to take place to secure freedom for African Americans in the long run," Zaakir notes.
This forward-thinking approach resonates with contemporary legal challenges. "As we think about constitutional law, civil rights law, immigration law, we are seeing how laws can be used both to help and to harm," Zaakir observes. "What we must reflect on is how do we prepare for the future and how do we write legislation and interpret law in a manner that can secure freedom for all and for everyone and in the long run, rather than just looking for short term victories."
Building a Movement Through Mentorship
Sumner's method was revolutionary mentorship. He played a key role in founding Howard Law School and created close mentorship relationships. Students came to his home, learned from him, and advised him in return. "This is what he believed was necessary to secure the gains of reconstruction for the long term: mentoring young people so they could continue the fight after he was gone."
Sumner understood mentorship's power because he had experienced it himself. He was one link in a chain of influential relationships that stretched back generations to Chancellor James Kent, a renowned American jurist, who was in turn mentored by founding father Alexander Hamilton. Additionally, Sumner’s mentorship of Moorfield Storey, who would become the NAACP's first president, demonstrated how these relationships could shape the future of civil rights advocacy. Each relationship didn't just transfer knowledge. It passed on a vision of what law could become.
Zaakir sees this same principle at work in The Appellate Project (TAP): "Organizations like TAP bring young people from these perspectives into conversation with lawyers in positions of power. And those conversations are and will continue to lead to change because they enable people in positions of power to interact with young people from marginalized backgrounds in a very powerful, meaningful, intimate manner."
The Role of Mentorship in Zaakir's Journey
The parallel between historical and contemporary mentorship became deeply personal for Zaakir through his TAP experience. "TAP widened the doors for me for opportunities and correspondingly expanded my own possibilities. I never dreamed that I could have been an author," he reflects.
Yet, his TAP mentors provided encouragement for ambitious goals that extended beyond traditional law school expectations. "It's in many ways because of my TAP mentors that I was set on this journey. They were the ones that I told about this book project, who helped me navigate classes and internships while working on this book, who encouraged me down this path, who gave me advice, didn't stop me, but also kept me on course to at least graduate and get employed."
Rather than directing his choices, his mentors supported his vision and helped him balance competing priorities, allowing him to pursue both his academic requirements and his research passion.
Empowering the Leaders of the Future
Zaakir's transformation from curious student to published author embodies the same principles Sumner used to build lasting change. His journey demonstrates what Sumner understood: that individual talent flourishes when supported by advocates willing to invest in the next generation.
"Mentorship can be revolutionary," Zaakir reflects. "One day some of these TAP mentees are going to change the world, and it's going to be because of the TAP mentors who trained them when they were young."
Zaakir’s book about Sumner doesn't just preserve history—it offers a roadmap for today's advocates seeking to create lasting change. And armed with both historical insight and contemporary support, Zaakir is poised to continue the work that drew him to Sumner in the first place: setting the stage to build a more just legal system for future generations.
Charles Sumner: Conscience of a Nation by Zaakir Tameez is available through Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and anywhere else you find books.