<img width="300" height="266" alt="WilliamsStarla300x266Faculty_hb" src="/site/files/oldnewsfiles/WilliamsStarla300x266Faculty_hb.jpg" class="FloatRight">“The events purpose is to highlight the positive contributions little known history that African Americans have added to the legal profession and our country,” said Harrisburg <a href="/CampusLife/ActivitiesandOrganizations/OtherHarrisburgOrganizations/BlackLawStudentsAssociation.aspx">Black Law Students Association</a> President Shawna Harrell of the “Legal Perspectives in African American History” lecture series that began on Wednesday, February 2nd with a talk by Legal Methods Professor <a href="/Academics/Faculty/ProfilesHbg/WilliamsStarla.aspx">Starla Williams</a> on the historic Brown v. Board of Education case.<br><br>Professor Williams spoke to an audience of students in the pit for an hour on the historic case, which changed American history, in that it “dismantled racial segregation in education, while ushering in the American Civil Rights Era of the 1960s.”<br><br>Professor Williams explained that Thurgood Marshall believed that equal opportunity rested upon quality education for African Americans and the despite the “separate, but equal” doctrine, segregated public schools were not equal. Marshall committed himself to improving the harmful impact of segregation and was a chief strategist for the NAACP Legal Defense and Education fund.<br><br>Furthering explaining Marshall’s influential role in the Brown v. Board of Education case, Professor Williams said that he addressed the “court with candor, used evidence with confidence, and confronted his opponents with courage.” She described Marshall as a “champion of racial fairness.”<br><br>Williams took questions and comments from the students following the lecture.<br><br>The next lecture, scheduled for February 9, 2011, will feature Professor <a href="/Academics/Faculty/ProfilesHbg/PollardRandleB.aspx">Randle Pollard</a>. Professor <a href="/Academics/Faculty/ProfilesHbg/EvansTonyaM.aspx">Tonya Evans</a> will conclude the series with a capstone lecture on February 23, 2011.