February is Black History Month. But rather than remembering black history this month only, the contributions to our nation by African Americans should always be celebrated.
On Monday Feb. 5 Congress passed House Resolution 433. The resolution allowed for a post office in Little Rock, Ark., to be named after Scipio Africanus Jones.
And why is this important, you ask?
Mr. Jones was born into slavery in 1863. He attended segregated schools near his hometown of Tulip, Ark., then he took preparatory courses from Philander Smith College after he moved to Little Rock in 1883. Although he continued his education and received his bachelor’s degree from North Little Rock’s Bethel University in 1885, he did not attend law school.
He did, however, pass the bar exam in 1889, making him one of Arkansas’ first black lawyers. He later received an honorary doctorate degree from Morris Brown College located in Atlanta, Ga.
Mr. Jones was a successful and powerful businessman as the owner and founder of People’s Ice and Fuel Company. He also founded the Arkansas Negro Business League. But fighting for justice was Scipio’s true calling. In 1915, he was appointed to the bench by Little Rock city attorney Harry C. Hale, but it wouldn’t be until 1919 that Judge Jones would become famous for his skillful defense of society’s underdogs.
The 1919 Elaine Race Riot was one of the most deadly and bloody uprisings and left hundreds dead. It is unknown exactly how many died during the riot, but 99 African American men were indicted the murders. The NAACP, the Arkansas Conference on Negro Organizations, and the National Equal Rights League worked together to provide the men with the defense attorneys.
Of the 99 indicted, 12 were convicted and sentenced to death. The men had been tried and convicted in less than 20 minutes. Jones worked tirelessly over the next six years in defense of the Elaine 12. Jones’ hard work resulted in the landmark case Moore v Dempsey in which the Supreme Court ruled 6-2 that the men had been denied due process guaranteed under the Fourteenth Amendment of the Constitution.
Mr. Jones was a successful businessman, a prominent lawyer and then a judge. He overcame prejudice and segregation during the time of Jim Crow laws, and Klu Klux Klan lynchings. He fought for knowledge and with that knowledge and his strength of character he fought for civil rights.
He may have been born a slave, but the bonds of slavery would not hold Scipio Africanus Jones.
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