Message from the President, March 2026

I am Somebody.

I am Somebody.

I may be poor, but I am Somebody.

⁣I may be Young, but I am Somebody.

I may be on Welfare, but I am Somebody.

I may be Small, but I am Somebody.

I may make a Mistake, but I am Somebody!

My clothes are different, my face is different, my hair is different,

but I am Somebody.

I am black, brown, white, I speak a different language;

But I must be respected, protected, never rejected.

I am God’s child.

⁣I am Somebody!

Jesse Jackson is a civil rights hero whose legacy runs right through Greensboro, by way of North Carolina A&T University.  The above poem is one of his best known oratorical calling cards.  It is sometimes attributed as being written by Rev. Williams Holmes Borders, Sr., but is best known by its association with Jesse Jackson.  It is a message with a two-fold power – the personal and the political.

Jackson often delivered the poem as a call-and-response.  Each member of the audience responds “I am somebody,” and asserts their personhood.  It is a reminder to themselves of their personal significance, that they mattered no matter their circumstances.  It is a powerful tool of self-affirmation, as a crowd responds back to him “I am somebody.”  Surely the privileged and powerful don’t need such tools to remind them of their importance, but for the poor, the underprivileged, or the oppressed, their sense of personhood may be ground away by the systems of the world, and this is a powerful personal reminder that they are more than their circumstances; they are a child of God and they matter.

Of course, the message is far greater than as a personal affirmation for the speaker(s).  It is a powerful spiritual and political call to the hearer(s), demanding that they bear personal responsibility to recognize and defend the human dignity of everyone they encounter.  In this sense of the poem, the privileged and powerful are the exact audience who needs to hear the message.  They didn’t need a self-affirmation of their own worth, but an admonition of their duty to recognize the personhood – the fundamental humanity and worth of others who don’t enjoy their blessings.  Any insult or degradation to the rights of any person or group is fundamentally rooted in denying their humanity.  Therefore, any progress for civil or human rights must start with a powerful reminder – even a demand – to recognize their dignity, their humanity, their divine relationship to the creator.

As attorneys, we engage in a profession that can sometimes tend to dehumanize people.  This may include people like criminal defendants or others caught up in legal systems, but may extend further.  Some of us may have known attorneys who engage in “attack-mode” at the drop of a hat, treating others with less than full human dignity.  This may be opposing parties, other attorneys, perhaps occasionally our own client who is being difficult.

Of course, not everyone makes it easy.  It can be tempting to lose our patience, especially with folks who themselves can be difficult, aggressive, unkind, or abusive.  By now, it’s well understood that many involved in our court system or in other legal issues are responding from their own history of trauma, mental illness, fundamental misconceptions, anxieties about systems they can’t understand, or fears about what may happen to them.  While they may be difficult to work with, our approach should be informed by a recognition of the fundamental human conditions that affect them.  This doesn’t mean that we give in to their worse instincts or behavior, but at least we work our best to treat them with human respect, even through difficult interactions.

This is an area where I believe that GBA and our members are doing a good job.  I know that we have members who are dedicated to civility and who know how to advocate hard for their clients without debasing the others involved.  We have a mentorship committee and programs where our more experienced members can share their approach to these issues.  We have CLE programs that may include topics of professionalism and trauma-informed practices.  As an association, let’s continue to remind ourselves of the importance of this outlook.  It isn’t always easy, but it is always right to remember that the person on the other side is Somebody.

Hon. Bill Davis
President, Greensboro Bar Association
and the 24th Judicial District Bar