Nina Kennedy
- Jul 19, 2019

The 2019 Paul Weiss Diversity Networking Reception

April Gibson, Jeh Johnson, and Nina Kennedy

We were delighted to be invited again to the annual Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton, and Garrison Diversity Networking Reception in The Appel Room of Jazz at Lincoln Center's Frederick P. Rose Hall. This year's speaker was Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative in Montgomery, Alabama. Stevenson gave a moving speech on the importance of reaching out to those in the Black community who are less fortunate, to offer role-modeling and guidance. "Some of us were told to stay away from those neighborhoods," he said, "But I say that these are the very neighborhoods we should go into."

Again we were able to chat with the former Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson, who is the first African American partner at Paul Weiss. Johnson's grandfather had been the first African American president of Fisk University. Dr. Charles S. Johnson greatly admired my mother, and welcomed her to the Fisk Faculty. He later commissioned celebrated artist Aaron Douglas to draw her portrait.

Bryan Stevenson

We were also very happy to learn that former Attorney General Loretta Lynch has joined forces with Paul Weiss. What a pleasure it was to be able to inform the former Attorney General of our efforts at INFEMNITY Productions.