By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
Last Saturday, the annual Judge Charles V. Johnson Youth and Law Forum was held at the Tukwila Community Center and the community at-large couldn’t have been more pleased with the outcome. Named in honor of the late Hon. Charles V. Johnson, co-founder of the Youth and Law Forum, the goals of the event are to bring the community together to learn about their legal rights, gain insights and inspiration about the ways in which one can impact their community through the legal system, and to strengthen ties and relationships with key members of the legal and law enforcement communities.
According to King County Superior Court Judge LeRoy McCullough, the forum was established back in the 1990s during a time when a high number of African Americans were being harassed by the police. In response, McCullough, Judge Johnson, and Judge Norma Smith Huggins came up with the idea as a solution to the problem.
“[We] met at First AME church to brainstorm what can we do to prevent the problem rather than confronting the problem once we see it,” said McCullough. “The quest was to prevent the problem, to go upstream, talk with the young people, talk with the parents, talk with police department, build a bridge and thereby interrupt that school to prison pipeline, that street to prison pipeline and that in essence is what the forum has been doing [ever since].”
Resilience: A Journey to Justice was the theme for this year’s forum. According to organizers, the theme was directed at young people to let them know that they are valued, acknowledge, and that they are resilient by displaying the ability to overcome tough times.
According to eleven-year-old Tovie Okoloko, the daughter of this year’s keynote speaker, Judge Edirin O. Okoloko, this year’s forum was vital in teaching her about the Black experience and traditions.
“I think the forum is important to me because it’s teaching a lot of people about Black experiences, and I think it is very valuable and important that we carry on traditions,” says Tovie Okoloko.
Her thirteen-year-old brother, Oghenetega Okoloko agrees with his sister about the importance of this event.
“The forum is important because people of all ages, the elderly, the adults, the children, and teenagers can all come together and learn about racial equality,” says Oghenetega Okoloko. “It is also important because we learn how to be safe with the police and other circumstances and have fun while learning it.”
“It is such a pleasure to be here today and to celebrate this annual event,” says Judge Okoloko. “It means so much to the community that has gathered here today. This started as an event 32 years ago, the founders intended this to be a bridge between community youth and the justice system. Which, at the time, was going through a period of deteriorating relations and over the years it has become an interactive event in which that bridge between the youth, the legal field and the participants in the justice system can get together, inspire each other, learn from each other, support each other and it’s a very, very powerful event.”
Kelyan Wandji, a young man who was also in attendance, expresses his desire to learn as much as possible from his elders and community members on the Black experience and law enforcement.
“I’m looking for experience from people who have lived the experience,” says Wandji. “Interactions with police to see their perspective and how they view interactions with Black men in general in American and how to navigate those situations safely and make sure you come out it fine. And learning from older generation on being a Black man living in America.”
Due to the historical and conflicted relationship the Black community has with law enforcement and the justice system this forum’s impact is vital in educating our youth and our community on how to avoid the school to prison pipeline, to understand their legal rights and how to engage with police officers.
Workshops were held addressing all of these issues as community members, parents and youth engaged with each other in learning. Workshops included subject matters like advocacy for social justice, mock trials, Get On The Bus: Journey To Emotional Health and Well-Being, just to name a few as the day was filled with energy and participation.
“The youth and law forum is so important to me because we have to educate our kids, we have to educate our community about the ins and outs of dealing with law enforcement,” says Brenda Nelson, a parent who has been involved with forum for several years. “We are learning what to do in certain situations. It is a grand opportunity to give people that interface with people in law enforcement.
“As a parent I’ve said what I’ve said and having the village repeating those same positive messages about what to do is invaluable,” she added.
The Hon. Lori K. Smith shared what she as a professional hopes to see come to fruition from the forum and how it can affect decisions young people will make regarding their futures.
“I think particularly for communities of color and marginalized communities it is difficult for the youth to both interact with law enforcement, the court systems and to understand that those types of jobs are opportunities for them to have as well,” says Smith. “To see that we are people too just like they are. To get some advice and tips on what to do in certain circumstances, and to have community with one another so the idea to come together and see these different aspects of the criminal justice system, to interact with adults who have jobs in the system and to maybe put a little nugget in their brains that maybe I can someday have a one of these jobs in the future.”
In 1990, Judge Johnson and his colleague Judge Norma Smith Huggins recruited a young Judge McCullough to help craft an innovative community intervention program that would “stem the tide of negative interactions with law enforcement”. The Judge Charles V. Johnson Youth and Law Forum is the product of that vision. And because of this event’s representations, young people seeing folks that look like them gives them the confidence to believe they can make a difference.
“I think representation is so important for our youth to see,” says Erika Evans, a federal prosecutor and one of the co-chairs of the Youth and Law Forum. “When they see Black and Brown judges and attorneys, lawyers, that gives them hope and inspiration that they to can be leaders in the community. I think seeing that is part of that path to get them in those roles.”
