2013 has been a busy and good year for the Davis Dunnings Bar Association (DDBA). It recently received a grant from the Ingham County Bar Foundation and, along with Turning Point of Lansing (TPOL), was the second place winner of the State Bar of Michigan’s 2013 Law Day contest.
The 2013 Law Day Theme was "Michigan—Realizing the Dream: Equality for All." Participants in the contest could use any one of the Michigan Legal Milestones in their submission, but the four suggested milestones were "Murphy's Dissent," "One Person, One Vote," "Sojourner Truth," and the "Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act."
DDBA submitted as its entry for the contest, ‘Hey! That’s Not Fair!” a coloring storybook inspired by the Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. The DDBA embraces the State Bar’s pipeline model on diversity. Accordingly, the DDBA partnered with the Turning Point of Lansing (TPOL), the recipient of the DDBA’s 2013 Humanitarian Award, to develop a contest submission.
The coloring book, explained Sherrie Guess, President DDBA, is directed at primary school children. It allows them to imagine varied ethnicities for the story’s characters, highlighting how the problem of discrimination affects us all. Moreover, the young men of Turning Point recognized that the Elliott-Larson Act’s fundamental principle of fairness applies to the injustice of bullying in Michigan schools. As the story unfolds, the two main characters stand up for the rights of students who want to have the freedom to use a school water fountain without fear, or intimidation. At the story’s conclusion, the students’ teacher uses the Elliot-Larson Civil Rights Act as the example to illustrate the wrongfulness of the older boys’ actions.
The stated mission of the DDBA includes the causes of equal rights, equal opportunity, and equal treatment before the law in the State of Michigan. In 2012, the DDBA was privileged to co-sponsor the dedication of the State Bar of Michigan Legal Milestone commemorating the Elliott-Larson Civil Rights Act of 1976. The Elliot-Larson Civil Rights of Act of 1976 continues to be a major tool in the ongoing struggle to ensure equal treatment under the law, for all.
For some, that dream remains unrealized, although great strides have been made. Many efforts have been mounted that seek to eliminate some of the barriers these groups confront. To that end, TPOL implemented a mentoring program focused upon young men of African descent who attend middle school and high school. Since its founding over ten years ago, the TPOL has successfully transformed scores of them from boys to men, utilizing the seven principles of Kwanzaa.
At a lively storyboarding session, the young men of Turning Point discussed the history of the struggle for civil rights in this country and shared examples of unfair treatment they either directly experienced or witnessed. From this sharing, the idea for the story evolved and crystallized the crux of discrimination into the exclamation and title, “Hey, that’s not fair!” In addition to the story, the boys developed the characters. One of the “artists” among them created drawings of the character the professional graphic artist used as a model for the book’s illustrations.
The DDBA believes that the message of the story encourages and empowers young people to embrace their own as well as others uniqueness. “Hey! That’s Not Fair!” can help to spread awareness and understanding while demonstrating how laws help to improve society for the betterment of all.
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