Barbara Arnwine Resigns from Lawyers' Committee by Hazel Trice Edney

March 24, 2015

Barbara Arnwine Resigns from Lawyers' Committee
Fiery Rights Leader Becomes Talk Show Host and Aims to Start New Organization
 
By Hazel Trice Edney

barbaraarnwinenew
Barbara Arnwine

(TriceEdneyWire.com) – After more than 26 years of leadership at the national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the fiery Barbara Arnwine has resigned from the 52-year-old organization, headed for a new career in media and building a new social justice organization.

“Barbara is a civil rights trailblazer, passionately addressing racial discrimination on behalf of the Lawyers’ Committee for over two decades, especially in the areas of voting rights, criminal justice and immigration reform,” said Lawyers’ Committee Board Co-Chair John Nonna in a March 19 statement announcing Arnwine’s resignation from the presidency and executive directorship. “She has served as a stalwart and visionary leader of the Lawyers’ Committee and we wish her the best as she moves into the next phase of her work.”

Arnwine is viewed among the top tier of the nation's civil rights leaders with a trail of successes and a widely recognized voice of passion on social justice.  Her Lawyers' Committee resignation is effective June 30, 2015.

“I am honored to have served this great institution since 1989 and look forward to following its future endeavors,” said Arnwine who last year celebrated a total of 33 years with the Lawyers’ Committee. During the earlier years she led the Committee in Boston, Mass.

“This milestone reminded me that it is time to use my leadership skills and abilities in a new and unique way,” she said. “Since joining the national Lawyers’ Committee in February of 1989, I have been actively involved in every major civil rights legal, public policy and legislative fight over these many years.”

Arnwine launched her weekly news talk radio program on Radio One’s WOL 1450 AM, March 3. “Igniting Change with Barbara Arnwine” broadcasts live on Tuesdays, 12-1 p.m. (EST) in the DC area and is accessible by listeners worldwide through the internet at BarbaraArnwine.com and worldcnews.com.

Arnwine also said in an interview that she will be launching a new civil rights and social justice organization.

“It will be called the Transformative Justice Coalition,” she said. “It will be a coalition of organizations and individuals.”

She gave a list of major issues the Justice Coalition will work on. They are voting rights, policing reform, youth leadership development, African-American women in law, racial equity in sports, and international human rights. She added that she will also be writing her first book “or two”.

“I’m really looking forward to this whole transition, reincarnation and taking on some battles that are different,” said Arnwine in a brief interview with the Trice Edney News Wire. “My basic focus will be creating an even heavier focus on criminal justice reform; especially on police reform; really digging in deep on that. And really focusing on voting rights of course because we have another big voting year coming in and how to win this battle against voter suppression.”

Meanwhile, the Lawyers’ Committee will begin a search for new top leadership for the organization, whiich was established at the request of President John F. Kennedy to address racial discrimination.

The organization “remains the nation’s principal network of lawyers from law firms across the country working pro bono to preserve the civil rights of all Americans. Barbara deserves much credit for bringing President Kennedy’s imperative to such vibrant life more than 50 years later,” said Donald Rosenberg, Lawyers’ Committee board co-chair.

“The Lawyers’ Committee has critical work to accomplish in the coming months,” said Nonna, “including educational equity, criminal justice reform and our nationwide Election Protection program, which has become a major resource for assisting historically disenfranchised Americans to exercise their fundamental right to vote. We look forward to continuing this vital work under the direction of a Board-led transition committee, while we identify Barbara’s successor.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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