By Chris B. Bennett
The Seattle Medium
U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Jones captivated the audience at the 26th Annual Youth and Law Forum held last Saturday at First A.M.E. Church in Seattle.
Jones, who provided the keynote address for the event, talked about the need for youth to “stay clean” in order to pursue and achieve their dreams.
“I’m talking about staying clean and staying out of trouble,” said Jones.
Jones talked about an incident that occurred when he was 17-years old that could have changed his life forever. Jones was getting pressured by some friends to go out and steal tape decks out of cars in order to get some quick and easy money. At the time, Jones was supposed to be heading to the store to get some dog food. Jones told his friends that he would think about it and get back to them later about whether or not he would go along with them. When Jones went to meet up with his friends they had already left. The next morning he found out that his friends had been caught and arrested by the police.
“Think about what that would have done to my career,” Jones said. “Scholarship I had to Seattle U. gone! Admission to Seattle University, gone! Opportunity to go to law school, gone! Federal Judgeship? Forget it.”
Judge Jones talked about the hardships that he had endured in pursuit of his dreams, but he never gave up and in the end realized his dream of being a Federal Court Judge.
“I have a job for life,” Jones said. “I was appointed by the President of the United States.”
“I don’t have a boss,” Jones continued. “I don’t have performance evaluations. The only way I can get fired is if the United States Senate votes to impeach me.”
“I get paid for the rest of my life!” added Jones.
According to Judge Jones, Becoming a federal court judge is not an easy endeavor. Only 30 federal judges have been appointed in the state of Washington since 1905, and only three have been African American.
“I’m number 30,” said Jones. “I’m the first [African American] from Seattle.”
As the audience began to applaud, Jones said he wasn’t saying the things about his success to get an applause. But rather to inspire the young people in attendance to pursue their dreams and reach for great heights.
“I want somebody to stand up and tell me, ‘I’m going to replace you Judge Jones. I’m taking your job,’” he said. “Cause somebody in the room has the responsibility, has the capacity, and the knowledge to take over my job.”
Jones, who is very familiar with the pitfalls that many young people face today because he sees the end result of these pitfalls in his courtroom on a weekly basis, talked about the importance of making good decisions and avoiding trouble. Things that may seem harmless at the time like stealing, shoplifting, bullying someone on the internet, and delivering packages for someone without knowing its contents are all examples of things that can potentially ruin a young person’s life.
“All that stuff is all illegal activity and it can come back and haunt you every single time,” said Jones.
Not wanting to dwell on all the negative things that can happen to young people, Jones left the audience with his playbook for success.
Program your mind to start believing you are successful
Don’t believe that you are not smart enough to be a federal judge, a police officer, a legislator, teacher or city councilperson.
“If people see me studying right now instead of playing video games, they’ll think I’m a nerd,” Jones said. “I wouldn’t mind changing places with the biggest nerd on the planet and that’s Bill Gates.”
No limits on your dreams
A lot of folks talk about what they want to do but they put caps on how far that they can go.
“10 years before I became a federal judge they interviewed me in the newspaper and they said what’s your long range goal and I said ‘I want to be a federal judge,’” Jones said. “It took me 10 years to get there. Things may take a long time for you to get, but don’t put any caps on your dreams.”
Forget the haters
Don’t let others tell you that you can’t do something.
Stop waiting for somebody to hook you up
Stop waiting on someone to hook you up, and start learning how to hook yourself up with support from other people.
It’s ok to fail
You can’t get an “A” if you’re afraid to get an “F.”
Patience
You have to learn how to be patient, work hard and work smart.
Complete the sentence
“Black Lives Matter is not a complete sentence,” said Jones. “Do you know why it’s an incomplete sentence? Because it needs some more.”
“That sentence should also read Black Lives Matter, Black Education Matters, Black Success Matters and Black children as our future leaders because that is our future is what matters. That is a complete sentence,” Jones concluded.
Click here to listen to audio of Judge Jones’ keynote address
