Queens legal community honors legacy of MLK Jr.
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Attendees sang “America the Beautiful” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing.” Eagle photos by David Brand.
By Rachel Vick
Judges, attorneys and everyday residents from across Queens gathered at the Supreme Court, Civil Term courthouse Friday for an annual commemoration of the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
The event, hosted by the Macon B. Allen Black Bar Association, featured inspiring speeches and reflection on the impact of Dr. King. Retired Justice Randall Eng, former presiding justice of the Appellate Division Second Department, delivered the keynote speech, with Justice Janice Taylor presiding. Macon B. Allen President Jawan Finley introduced Eng.
The entire courtroom of attendees joined in to sing “America the Beautiful” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing” to kick off the program.
Eng’s speech discussed discrimination against various the Asian American community, and cited King as a “living inspiration.”
“There’s a lesson here that Dr. King would approve of and that lesson is to be vigilant, to be aware and to understand that we are all in this together,” Eng said. “Any persecuted group is going to have to have the support of others in order for everyone to be safe.”
Eng recalled growing up surrounded by the legal community in Queens, where he said he experienced casual racism from patrons of his family’s laundromat when he expressed interest in a legal career. He said he also faced prejudice as he tried to grow professionally.
He reminded the room of the Chinese Exclusion Act, of Japanese internment, of the arbitrary discrimination against “visible minorities.” Eng also discussed a local act of hate — a Klan March on Hillside Avenue in the 1920s.
Finley connected Eng’s experience to the barriers faced by many people of color in the legal community. She commended the perseverance that led him to become the first Asian-American assistant district attorney and the first Asian-American judge to sit as an Administrative Judge in Queens County.
“We have no choice but to stand up and speak out against what’s wrong and we have an obligation to insist that everyone does what’s right, because, as Martin Luther King Jr. said, “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now,’” Finley said. “So we sink or swim together. We stand together to make sure we honor that legacy and make sure to do what’s right.”
Taylor presided over the ceremony and shared her own involvement in the Civil Rights Movement, pieced together from childhood memories and stories retold by her family.
Supreme Court, Criminal Term Administrative Judge Joseph Zayas highlighted the importance of Dr. King’s values of justice, fairness, equality, freedom and human dignity in today’s world.
“With hate on the rise in our country and even now in our beloved city, [King’s] abiding principles continue to be as important and as relevant as ever,” Zayas said. “It’s very easy in this current environment to understand and appreciate the wisdom of King’s statement - ‘injustice anywhere is threat to justice everywhere’.”
King’s injustice quote became the unofficial theme of the ceremony — it was printed on the brochures and mentioned in almost every speech, including Eng’s.
“We never rehearse together, so it’s funny that we all expressed the same sentiment,” Finley said. “We all must stand together and fight against injustice.”
