Growing up in south-central Los Angeles, Patrick O’Guinn said he did not see a lot of positive black role models; instead, he saw a lot of gang members.

Now, O’Guinn, 53, is working to make sure that doesn’t happen to future generations.

Decades after facing gang members, O’Guinn, who is now a lawyer living in Columbia, started taking his own four young children to the Howard County Public Library to encourage them to read. As part of his effort, he began looking for material detailing the accomplishments of black lawyers and judges in Howard County.

Surprised that he couldn’t find any, he began compiling the material on his own. He sent out surveys to and interviewed black lawyers — in some cases, he even showed up at their offices with a camera to take their pictures.
 
O’Guinn is now writing a book on the subject, which he expects to complete by June. He plans to look for a publisher when he is done, but if he can’t find one, said he will publish the book himself.

He said he hopes his book will provide positive role models for young people.

“It says, ‘I can be a lawyer,’ ” O’Guinn said. “It says, ‘Look what these people have done and I can do what they can do.’ ”

Added O’Guinn: “When I was young, I didn’t know anybody who was a lawyer.”

From Compton streets to HCC

O’Guinn left Compton and became a police officer in Silicon Valley. He earned a law degree and moved to Maryland, where he worked as a public defender in Baltimore — trying, he said, to make sure that the underprivileged got a “fair shake” in the criminal justice system.

Later, O’Guinn went to work teaching at Howard Community College, eventually becoming coordinator of the college’s criminal justice program.

In the meantime, he continued to take legal cases, including the 2007 case of Michael Jackson, who was charged with first-degree murder in a Kings Contrivance shooting.
 
With O’Guinn as his attorney, Jackson was found guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter. O’Guinn hinged his defense on the fact that Jackson was a victim of gang activity. “I know it when I see it,” he said.
Although his book is not finished, O’Guinn already has posted some of the material on a Web site he created. The site contains biographies of 20 black lawyers and six black judges, all from Howard County, and also includes a section on the civil rights movement.
 
The main page is emblazoned with a quote from President Barack Obama. “When you look at the presidency, we’re talking about positive African-American role models,” O’Guinn said.

The Web site includes profiles of Georgia Goslee, the first black to open a law practice in Howard County; state Del. Frank Turner, a Columbia Democrat who was an Orphans Court judge before becoming a delegate; and Donna Hill Stanton, the first black Howard County Circuit Court judge.

Turner said O’Guinn’s project is valuable.

“I think it will preserve the history of the county,” Turner said.
 
“Black lawyers just got a very late start here. A lot more should have happened earlier.”

O’Guinn hopes his book and his Web site will spark a broader conversation among young people looking for mentors.
 
“If you’re interested in this, you can go talk with these people,” he said. “You can actually go to the courthouse and talk to these judges. You can call these lawyers up, and they’ll talk with you.”

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user comments (2)

user givemeabreak says...

my question is, do the lawyers and judges profiled "keep it real?" if not, Jesse Jackson will hold a press conference and tell the world that these judges and lawyers aren't "black enough," just like he said about Ol' Obama.

Posted 12:14 PM, 03.12.09

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user tchamb says...

I think it's great that you're doing this project. I think throughout the profession we are all coming to realize that there is not enough recognition and that it is difficult to locate mentors and other practitioners within our practice areas. There's a new website that seeks to bring minority attorneys, judges, professors, and law students together that you might be interested in. It's www.jddiversity.com. Perhaps the judges and attorneys profiled in this project would be interested in joining. All the best with the project.

Posted 4:37 PM, 03.12.09

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