Memphis lawyers rally, march near 201 Poplar

‘Let it be the last time you are silent’ about racism

The first time Peggy Jane Lee marched in protest against the unfair treatment of Black people, she was still a child and Memphis was still legally segregated.

Decades later, Lee, who now practices civil law, joined more than 150 fellow lawyers and picked up the cause once again Wednesday morning on the lawn of 201 Poplar.

“I’ve been marching since I was probably about 12 or 13 years old,” she said. “I was in practically all of the marches.”

Lee said she hesitated before coming out to rallies in recent years because after so many marches, she felt like progress was happening too slowly.

“We seemed to be marching for the same thing over and over and over and over again,” she said. “At one point I said I wasn’t marching anymore. But things keep happening and you’ve just got to make your presence known. You’ve got to be visible. You’ve got to keep up the fight.”

The attorneys met for a rally and march organized in partnership with the Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association, the Memphis Bar Association and the Association for Women Attorneys.

The rally began at 8:46 a.m. to signify the 8 minutes and 46 seconds now-fired Minneapolis Police Officer Derek Chauvin was captured on video kneeling on the neck of George Floyd. Floyd’s death ignited protests against police brutality in Minneapolis, Memphis and all over the world.

Chauvin is facing charges of second-degree murder. Three other officers who watched and did not intervene were also fired and charged with aiding and abetting.

Also in honor of Floyd, the

attorneys observed 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence outside the jail.

“Take this 8 minutes and 46 seconds and make it the last time you are silent about any of these issues,” Attorney Patrick J. Hillard said to the crowd before the silence. “Let it be the last time you are silent in the face of racism, in the face of systemic racism. Eight minutes and 46 seconds is about to feel like at eternity. After it’s finished, make sure you don’t waste another second.”

Quinton Thompson, vice president of the Ben F. Jones Chapter of the National Bar Association, implored the attorneys present to not only start making changes in their personal lives but also in their professional lives.

“For too long, many people have allowed discriminatory practices to happen unchecked and unchanged,” he said. “But if you truly want to contribute and unite in the fight for justice ... as lawyers you will institute new policies at law firms that will allow you to retain and hire Black attorneys. That means that you will actively engage in the hiring of Black attorneys and at the same time, you will engage in changing the culture and infrastructure of your firms and companies that have allowed them to remain too white for too long.”

After the moment of silence, the attorneys marched to the Shelby County juvenile courthouse where several judges also held a moment of silence in solidarity.

MAX GERSH/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL Attorney Peggy Jane Lee holds a sign as she listens to people speak Wednesday outside the Walter L. Bailey Jr. Criminal Justice Center, aka 201 Poplar, during the Bar Unity March in Memphis.

PHOTOS BY MAX GERSH/THE COMMERCIAL APPEAL Nattaly Perryman, a recent graduate of the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis, bows her head as local attorney Henry Reaves leads a prayer Wednesday during the Bar Unity March in downtown Memphis.

A Memphis prosecutor who declined to provide his name holds up a sign during the 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence for George Floyd, who died in Minneapolis after a now-fired police officer kneeled on his neck.

Attorney Dan Norwood kneels as he and other lawyers observed 8 minutes and 46 seconds of silence outside the jail. Afterward, attorneys marched to the Shelby County juvenile courthouse