I applied for the NAACP’s law fellows program because of the organization’s legacy in protecting the rights of people of color and in doing so the rights of all people. Law school has allowed me to more fully contextualize the history of race in the United States, and I recognized the crucial role the NAACP has played in my current opportunities. I knew working with the general counsel would help gain insight on how civil rights issues are tackled.
While my legal knowledge increased, my experience was much more expansive than I could have imagined. My time as a law fellow allowed me to reflect on national issues and legal strategies to address those national issues. This reflection completely changed how I approach legal questions, recognizing the law is not just individual cases, but the law is all about individuals. Working with the NAACP is working with something bigger than yourself. Attending the national convention allowed me to better understand how a grassroots organization works. The courts, the legislature, and the people all work together to find solutions to the problems facing our nation.
I also did not know that my time with the NAACP would leave me with lifelong friends. The other fellows constantly engaged my mind with different approaches to issues. More importantly, they constantly made me laugh. When facing large, difficult issues, laughing is essential. Along with the fellows, I learned from the brilliant minds of experienced attorneys. Those attorneys are clever, articulate, kind, and personable. They are examples to me of the type of attorney I’d like to be. I treasure the relationships I built during my summer and would not trade my experience for anything.
-Brianna Rosier
2018 NAACP Law Fellow
I thoroughly enjoyed my 1L summer at the NAACP and I cannot speak highly enough about my experience there. I decided to go to law school because I wanted to learn how to address the ways systemic issues such as housing discrimination and mass incarceration adversely affect the African American community. Working for the NAACP allowed me to work on assignments that perfectly aligned with my interests. I was able to work on a wide range of projects such as determining how the NAACP can address water contamination issues in African American communities, writing a memo on the link between race and capital punishment for potential future litigation, and contributing research to the NAACP’s current lawsuit against the Trump administration’s addition of a citizenship question to the national census. My colleagues and I also spent a week in San Antonio, Texas attending the NAACP national convention, where we helped organize the CLE workshop that was centered on voting rights. Because we set up the CLE panels, we were able to personally interact with and learn from experts in the voting rights field who provided us with invaluable advice for our budding legal careers.
But besides the NAACP’s storied history and the great learning experience the organization provides, the people that work for the NAACP are truly incredible. I learned so much from everyone in the General Counsel’s office, and everybody honestly wanted us to succeed. Without having to ask, multiple people offered to give us contact information for attorneys that worked in legal fields that we wanted to break into and that could give us career advice. I am passionate about housing discrimination, and Khyla Craine introduced me to a housing expert at Howard Law School who gave me advice about how to start writing my note, which is about racist twentieth-century federal housing policies. From speaking with my classmates about their 1L summers, I know that very few of them had a summer experience that was as gratifying, educational, and as fun as mine was, and I am extremely happy that I got the chance to work for the NAACP and spend a summer doing work that I love with amazing people.
-Nye Winslow
2018 NAACP Law Fellow
