Adjoa Aiyetoro

Adjoa Aiyetoro is a lawyer, an activist and the former executive director of the National Conference of Black Lawyers (1993-1997). She was the chief legal consultant to the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA) and co-chairperson of their Reparations Coordinating Committee. She is now Professor Emerita at the William H. Bowen School of Law at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock.

Education and teaching career

Adjoa Aiyetoro received her B.A. from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts (1967), and then graduated from George Warren Brown School of Social Work with a M.S.W. (1969). In 1978, she received her J.D., graduating from St. Louis University School of Law, shortly before she was admitted to the Missouri Bar.[1] She went on to teach at the Washington College of Law (adjunct, 1997-2002), the University of California, Santa Barbara (Visiting Scholar and Professor, 2003), West Virginia University College of Law (Visiting Professor, 2004), before settling into teaching at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, William H. Bowen School of Law since 2004, where she is now ranked as Professor Emerita. Aiyetoro taught courses on topics including Civil Procedure, Reparations and Remedies, Critical Race Theory, and Mass Violence.[2]

Aiyetoro worked for the United States Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Special Litigation Section (1978-1982), working primarily in cases where people were institutionalized. From 1982–1993, Aiyetoro continued with work that addressed those imprisoned as she worked for the American Civil Liberties Union's National Prison Project.[2] Aiyetoro was the executive director of the National Conference of Black Lawyers (NCBL) from 1993–1997, and during this time, prominent work included helping with the defense of Geronimo Ji-Jaga Pratt, a Black Panther who faced parole issues after his release from prison. In addition, she worked to streamline the organization's finances and administrative structure.[2][1][3] Topics for which she advocated for during her time with the NCBL included issues related to imprisonment and criminal justice, environmental justice, Washington, D.C. statehood, and reparations for Africans and African descendants in the United States.[1][4]

From 1997 to 2002, Aiyetoro served as the chief legal consultant for the National Coalition of Blacks for Reparations in America (N'COBRA).[2][1] In this role she was also part of the Alexander v. Oklahoma legal team, led by Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree, who in the early 2000s sued the state of Oklahoma on behalf of the descendants of the Tulsa Greenwood Massacre.[4] The U.S. Supreme Court decided not to hear the case.[5]

In 1988, Aiyetoro worked with Congressman John Conyers on the legislative bill H.R. 60 that aim to create a commission to study reparations for African-Americans in the United States.[4]

Selected publications

Over her career, Aiyetoro has published articles and reports including the following:

References
  1. "Adjoa Aiyetoro's Biography". The HistoryMakers. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  2. "Adjoa Aiyetoro Curriculum Vitae". Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  3. Shipp, E. R. (1991-05-10). "Black Revolution's 'Legal Arm' Weakens in 90's". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-02-15.
  4. Zulu, Itibari (Dec 2016). "Reparations scholar activism: an interview with Adjoa A. Aiyetoro". Gale Literature Resource Center. Retrieved Mar 4, 2020.
  5. "Court Rejects Reparations Case | News | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 2020-03-05.
  6. Aiyetoro, Adjoa (2007). "Truth Matters: A Call for the American Bar Association to Acknowledge Its Past and Make Reparations to African Descendants". George Mason University Civil Rights Law Journal. 18: 51.
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