BPLA Honorees Discuss Social Activism

The Harvard Black Pre-Law Association (BPLA) hosted its first annual Ruffin Dinner last Friday to honor two individuals who embodied service, leadership and creativity in law during a transformative period in United States history.

The honorees, actor Voltaire R. Sterling, who graduated from the Law School in 2005, and Judge Joyce London Alexander Ford, spoke to dinner guests on the importance of social activism and minority leadership under President Obama.

“In an unprecedented manner, the Obamas have charged us to ensure that the change we wish to see in this community is ultimately brought about by us,” Sterling said. “We now have a duty to answer Obama’s challenge.”

Ford also urged attendees to actively combat existing social prejudices.

“Though times have changed, people haven’t changed,” she said. “Our President transmogrified the land. But if he is to succeed, we have a lot to do.”

BPLA Finance Director Crystalee J. Forbes ’11, called Ford a “pioneer in her own right, a leader who embodied the ideals she espoused.”

Ford received the Charles Hamilton Houston Award for life-long leadership and service to the betterment of the African American community. She was the first African-American Chief United States Magistrate Judge and served the District for Massachusetts for nearly thirty years.

Sterling was presented with the Horizon Award for creativity in using his law degree to pursue an acting career. After graduating from Harvard Law School, he was handpicked by Denzel Washington to appear in his film, “The Great Debaters.”

Though Sterling did not have an agent or manager at the time of casting, he said his experience at Morehouse College and Harvard Law School prepared him to independently seek a career in the otherwise rigid film industry.

“One thing I learned is that there is always a way. You look at people who have come before, and they have always found a way,” Sterling said in an interview.

Two of those “who have come before,” Sterling said, were the dinner’s eponyms: G. Lewis Ruffin, the first black graduate of Harvard Law School, and his wife Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin,an abolitionist and women’s suffragist.

“I am excited, honored, but also deeply humbled to receive this award,” Sterling said in the interview. “I think back to the pioneers who have come before me, and realize how much greater this moment is for me.”

The Ruffin Dinner, which BPLA plans to continue as an annual tradition, aims to honor individuals who exhibit the commitment to service and the pursuit of justice exemplified by the Ruffins.

Dwight B.N. Pope ’10 was also awarded the $500 BPLA Student Scholarship Award for academic success, service and interest in law during the event.