By Tom Kirvan
Legal News
The continuation of the COVID era has added a new wrinkle to the Annual Soul Food Luncheon, a festive event held in Detroit each February during Black History Month.
This year, the invitation-only event, will take place on Tuesday, February 15, in the virtual realm due to the lingering effects of the pandemic.
Founded 34 years ago by Damon J. Keith, the late U.S. Court of Appeals judge who died in April 2019 at age 96, the luncheon traditionally served as an annual opportunity for the legendary federal jurist to break bread – with some 400 of his dearest friends.
It doubled as a time to present the annual Soul and Spirit Humanitarian Award, an honor that has been received by civil rights icon Rosa Parks, singing star Aretha Franklin, former Detroit Mayor Dave Bing, NBA Hall of Fame great Joe Dumars, longtime Congressman John Conyers, former Tiger great Willie Horton, popular TV newscaster Carmen Harlan, and U.S. District Chief Judge Denise Page Hood among others.
“Although we still mourn the passing of our beloved Judge, the Honorable Damon J. Keith, it is important that all who loved him carry on his legacy,” said Peter Hammer, director of the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Jonathan J.C. Grey. “In this spirit, the Damon J. Keith Center for Civil Rights at Wayne State University Law School and the family of Keith Clerks are committed to continue the time-honored tradition of the Soul Food Luncheon.”
This year’s celebration will take place “in the centennial year of his birth,” Hammer and Grey indicated, noting that Judge Keith was born July 4, 1922 in Detroit. A veteran of the U.S. Army during World War II, Keith served as a judge on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit from 1977 until his death in 2019. Prior to joining the Court of Appeals, Keith served on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, where he presided over a series of landmark cases in the areas of civil rights and social justice.
“For more than three decades, the Soul Food Luncheon has been a unique celebration of leadership and achievement recognizing a local outstanding African American, bestowing upon him or her the coveted Soul and Spirit Humanitarian Award,” Hammer and Grey said. “This year’s celebration will continue that tradition by honoring Lewis & Munday PC, one of the longest serving African American owned law firms in the country, celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.”
The keynote speaker this year will be Ann Claire Williams, retired judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. A native of Detroit, Williams holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Wayne State, and Notre Dame Law School.
President Ronald Reagan nominated her in 1985 to the U.S. District Court, Northern District of Illinois, making her the first woman of color to serve on a district court in the three-state Seventh Circuit. In 1999, President William Clinton’s nomination made her the first judge of color to sit on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit and the third Black woman to serve on any federal circuit court.
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