Foundation honors Emmanuel and Orr
Foundation honors Emmanuel and Orr The Florida Bar Foundation’s 2001 Medal of Honor was presented to former Bar President Patrick G. Emmanuel and posthumously to John B. Orr, a former Florida state representative, for improving the administration of justice.The awards were presented June 21 during the Foundation’s 25th Annual Dinner at The Florida Bar’s Annual Meeting in Orlando.“The Foundation bestows its medal of honor upon individuals exemplifying principles embraced by the Foundation,” said A. Hamilton Cooke, Foundation president.“This year’s recipients are Patrick Emmanuel, whose countless hours of legal service to indigent residents have touched the lives of many, and former Florida state Rep. John Orr, whose courage to stand against segregation in the 1950s earned him a place in history.”Emmanuel is a graduate of the University of Florida College of Law and a senior partner with Emmanuel, Sheppard & Condon in Pensacola. Emmanuel has been a member of The Florida Bar since 1946 and has served the Bar in numerous capacities. He was on the Bar’s Board of Governors for over 10 years and was its representative to the Federal Appellate Judges Conferences. Emmanuel was the Bar’s president from 1985 to 1986, when he received an award from Florida’s legal services community for assisting the state’s indigent.In 1987, Emmanuel received the President’s Pro Bono Service Award from the Bar for giving legal assistance to the poor. He is also a past president of the Bar Foundation and a past member and chair of the Federal Judicial Nominating Commission of Florida.On a national level, Emmanuel has been recognized as a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, and a fellow of the American Bar Association. He has served as a delegate of The Florida Bar to the ABA House of Delegates, a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Professional Discipline, and a member of the President’s Club of the American Bar Foundation for Justice and Education.John Orr Orr, a graduate of the University of Florida College of Law, was elected in 1954 at the age of 36 to the Florida House of Representatives and served two terms. In 1956, the Florida Legislature was in special session to pass legislation introduced in defiance of the United States Supreme Court’s decision to desegregate schools. Orr voted against school segregation, and subsequently, delivered a speech on the floor of the House where he stated, “I believe segregation is morally wrong.”In 1958, he was defeated in the Democratic primary by a rival who ran as a segregationist and made Orr’s stand the issue. The last office Orr held was in 1972 when he was elected mayor of Metropolitan Dade County. He died two years later.“We honor John Orr tonight. . . for the most singularly courageous political act in Florida’s modern history,” Cooke said.According to his son, Tom Orr, who accepted the award on his father’s behalf, Orr established and lived by his own moral code, and was often quoted as saying, “It is better to fail in a just cause that will ultimately succeed, than to succeed in an unjust cause that will ultimately fail.”“His legacy is his courage to do what he believed was right,” said Tom Orr, who added his father’s life continues to impact others, including St. Petersburg Times Associate Editor Martin Dyckman.Dyckman, who nominated Orr for the Foundation’s Medal of Honor, said to read Orr’s speech today is to marvel that it was even controversial, let alone the eventual ruination of his legislative career, “but that is how things were.”“But for his courageous example, and the courage of at first a few, then many more, things might still be that way,” Dyckman said,For more information about The Florida Bar Foundation or its medal of honor awards, call (800) 541-2195. Foundation honors Emmanuel and Orr “I am most appreciative of the honor given to me by The Florida Bar Foundation,” Emmanuel said. “Those members of the legal profession who received this award in prior years were great leaders and worked to improve the administration of justice in our state. I commend the Foundation for its continuing activities to assist those in need of legal services and the improvement of our legal system.” Patrick Emmanuel August 1, 2001 Regular News
Efficacy for JusticeA Poem in Tribute to Former Chief Justice Johnnie Naustedlau LewisBy Togba-Nah Tipoteh, PhDWith a name like NaustedlauNo wonder he embraced the Rule of LawFor as Chief of Justice Struggling to remove InjusticeHe looked and stood tallWith no slip and fallLooking straight as an arrowSeizing Due Process to followHe was one person to know Being a Strong Brain from SinoeBringing wisdom from the EastTo render spineless the corrupt beastThat thrives on injusticeWhile the people thirst for justiceThis then is the legacyOf the Man Johnnie Naustedlau LewisOut of the Heritage of Susana LewisBearing Liberia’s Flag of Justice As Liberia’s Chief of JusticeMy Body is Gold{Poem to end violence against women}By: Lekpele Nyamalon Ever tried to break gold?With your own bare hand?Did you feel the stiff?Would you trade gold for brass?Or try to sweep it like some grass?Gold is a precious shiny stone-not a strawMy body –this body you see, is goldI may be short, small or hugeWith my lappa stained with red palm oilSwamped by crying babies in the kitchenOr, I may be carrying my bucket,Filled with pepper, okra, and cornBut with these, I put food on that tableCan’t you see my courage shines like lightening?I may be walking in mud down watersideBut I smile like the bright morning sunDoes that make me a cow that you beat to move?Why do you knock me down and gang rape me like hungry thirsty leopards?Am I sweeter than honey?And you laugh like its funny?You are a coward, cruel and shamelessWhy do you keep me dirty, barefooted and broken?Are you afraid of the radiance in my eyes?Do you fear the glamour of my beauty?Are you struck by the size of my hips?Are you intimidated by the glow of my breasts?Now, hear me young manThis body you beat is goldAre you a beast, built to beat a woman?If you’re Hercules, why not jump on a lion in his den?Is your prowess fixed for women?But, you don’t know goldSomeday, you’ll see a real manA man with arms thicker than yoursAnd chest wide for my bodyWith voice that vibrates like thunderAnd hands stronger than oxenBut, he, like a knight, guards me like a queenAnd guess what?This man, my man, is a real manLike a miner, he knows gold, even in dirtAnd he cleans it up and sets it in a jarAnd marvels at the splendor-enjoying his treasureBut, you poor manYou were blinded by a ghostNever knew the gold you hadAnd boy, oh boy, when you know thisI’ll flee like a bird and be goneWhen it hits your door, you’d be doneLeft with your over grown egoChained in a cageStuck with your rageDid you think you could dim my bulb?And blow my lambI’ll still be on fireWhen we pass you byRolling your wheelbarrow on the outskirts of dualaYou’ll hide your face behind the mountain’s backWith your torn-out trouseurs, asking in your coloqua-da my woman there?This face you bruise is goldThis nose you punch is goldThis arm you twist is goldThis leg you sweep is goldThis body, my body is gold.Salute to the Armed Forces of LiberiaVARNEY L. S. GEANSuch was that moment they were so despisedSuch was the time they had no familiar friendSo dire it was many wished that they vanishedBut in time they will unearth their truth bearingsIn time they will mount from that era of trivialitySalute to our National ArmySuch was the instance many would laugh at themSuch was that time death was greeted with smirksAwful it was many wished they never ascend againBut in time all that will change for the greater goodIn time they will once again be our nation’s prideSalute to our National Army The Lieutenants the Generals the CorporalsThe Majors the Colonels the Sergeants the PrivatesFive stars three stars and all those honors bestowedVibrant men and women of our dear motherland In time we will sing sonnets about their greatnessSalute to the Armed Forces of LiberiaSHACKLEDVARNEY L. S. GEANI feel so bordered by revulsionI feel so bounded by indifferenceI feel so enclosed by blasphemiesI feel so imprisoned by humiliationI feel the aloof eyes staring deeplyPungent breathes against my cheeksInfinite hands fervently waitingTo inflict the worst grief I can abideFew are thus far but it seems so nearerSome nearness strike the instant fearBounded I am will sure suffocate soonerThis draws closer a time I can’t escapeIn such moment I ponder for the longestQuestions asked but retorts I bare notNevertheless the truth I boldly defendFor being the virtuous persona I truly amI Saw Liberia RiseBy Lekpele M. NyamalonI sat on the top of a treeAnd saw the sky blazing with scrapersHooping for the skiesI saw lights beaming from the slums of west pointAnd the corners of rock spring valley to the ghettoes of capitol by passI heard the grounds vibrating, making way for the bulldozersTo rebuild our cityI closed my eyes and found a town deep in the belly of the southeastAnd found pipes buried under the dirtPumping clean water to the shoresI sat from afar and saw kids going to schoolWalking in disbelief at the glamour of their cityI sat near a palm tree and looked through my binocularsAnd saw roads paved from redlight to LoguatuoFrom Buchanan to GreenvilleStretching from Harper to BarclayvilleI saw Marshall springing with buildings and birth given to a cityI saw leaders leading with honesty and parents guiding their childrenI saw a nation booming with hopeThat was my Country, the land of the freeSmiling with passion of a birth renewedI was there, I saw the lightI saw Liberia rise!Share this:Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)