Shown left to right: Florence Rice, Community Service Awardee; Cornelius R. Ricks, Executive Director, Memorial Law Library; and, Professor Colia Clark, panelist speaker.
[Harlem]
An enterprising and persistent community activist, Cornelius R. Ricks, is on a quest to create a law library that would give Harlem residents the resources they need for research to support their cases.
A recent forum at the prestigious Harlem Branch Library of the NY Public Library system at 9 West 124 Street was devoted to discussing Ricks’ proposal, a Charitable Memorial Law Library in the community of Harlem.
“The law Library will give free access resource to community residents, New York City and New York State residents,” Ricks said. “We the people in the urban communities have been robbed of our legal rights, inability to access computerize tools of laws, lack of assets to acquire passionate counsel, prejudice and incompetence,” he said.
“The Harlem community needs to build a law Library as a memorial to our great African Americans ancestors who fought for justice for all Americans,” he added.
Ricks concluded: “Seven million men and women, or 3% of the U.S. population are currently incarcerated, on probation or parole a new record that makes the United States the world leader in incarceration, not to mention the residuary state of mind this have on our youth, with minorities preferring to go to jail rather than going to college.”
Guest panelists included Hon. Paul E. Kerson, Esq., John Durst, Esq., Andrew Besin, Esq., Professor Colia Clark and T. Williams-Dey, a community activist. Activist Florence Rice was honored at the Forum with an Award for her many years of community service.
“Speaking Truth To Empower.”
