Student Leader Participates on Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Panel

Thurgood Marshall School of Law 3L student, Michael Sterling who serves as the  chair of the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA), was a panelist at the Rainbow PUSH Coalition's 35^th annual conference held June 10-15, 2006, at the Hyatt Regency O'Hare Hotel in the Chicago suburb of Rosemont.  Aptly titled, "A More Perfect Union:  Free, But Not Equal," the conference featured the Rev. Jesse Jackson, founder and president of Rainbow PUSH Coalition; Charles Ogletree, professor of law at Harvard Law School; Willie Gary, prominent personal injury attorney; and Ray Nagin, mayor of New Orleans. 

Sterling addressed the topic, Today's Civil Rights Agenda and Priorities:  Changing the Course of our Nation, in which he spoke about the decreasing number of African-Americans in law school and how NBLSA is addressing this issue via recruitment and retention efforts.  According to Sterling , this fall's entering law school class will have the lowest number of African American students in 16 years.  In an effort to improve the matriculation of African Americans in law school, NBLSA has targeted 10 undergraduate institutions during the fall semester and 10 institutions during the spring semester to prepare students for applying to law schools.  The preparation will include assisting students with writing personal statements, as well as reviewing LSAT strategies.

In discussing the need for African American attorneys in both public and private practice, Sterling noted the importance of having minority attorneys in all facets of the legal profession, fighting for Civil Rights and public interest. As an incentive, NBLSA will offer stipends and scholarships to students interested in performing pro bono work. 

On the final day of the conference, the Rev. Jesse Jackson announced that Rainbow PUSH will lead a "massive" march in Springfield , Illinois , to press for fair education spending in urban, suburban and rural districts statewide, with a pledge of support from Chicago Public School 's CEO Arne Duncan.  The goal is to generate $1,000 more per child to fund education.  Jackson stated, "we want equal access and high public education for all of our children ¨C make the playing field even for all of our children."

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  NBLSA is the largest student-run organization in America , and represents over 6,000 Black law students at over 200 law schools across the country.  Recently, the NBLSA established international links with black law students in Canada , England , and South Africa who modeled their student organization after NBLSA.

      The Rainbow PUSH Coalition is a progressive organization, which seeks to protect, defend and gain civil rights, level the economic and educational playing fields in all aspects of American life and bring peace to the world.