The New York State Bar
Association (NYSBA) hosted the 2018 Haywood Burns Award Ceremony and Symposium
at CUNY School of Law in Long Island City on Wednesday night, recognizing the
work of individuals who have contributed to New York State while upholding the
ideals of former CUNY Law Dean Haywood Burns.
The event concluded with the
presentation of the Haywood Burns Memorial Award to Esmeralda Simmons, Esq., executive
director of the Center for Law and Social Justice (CLSJ) at Medgar Evers
College in Brooklyn. The annual award is given by NYSBA’s Committee on Civil
Rights.
Ms. Simmons is a
prominent and highly respected civil rights attorney who focuses on protecting
the rights of African descendants and the disenfranchised. As the founding
executive director of the CLSJ, she has overseen racial justice public policy
campaigns and litigation on behalf of community organizations. In her legal
work, Ms. Simmons has specialized in racial justice issues such as voting
rights, education inequality, cultural rights and human rights violations in
the U.S.
“Like Haywood Burns, in
whose honor the award is named, Ms. Simmons has viewed the law not as a path to
power and prestige, but rather, as a path to empower the powerless,” said NYSBA
President Michael Miller at the award ceremony. “Her choice to work locally for
more than 40 years using advocacy, community education, coalition-building and
organizing methods has been impactful to so many underserved communities.”
The Haywood Burns
Memorial Award is presented each year and is named in honor the former CUNY Law
School dean, who died in 1996. Dean Burns was an activist, attorney and civil
rights advocate with a passionate commitment to human rights that led him to
engage in struggles against racism and economic and social injustice in the
U.S. and around the world.
About the New York State Bar Association
The New York State Bar Association is the
largest voluntary state bar association in the nation. Since 1876, the
Association has helped shape the development of law, educated and informed the
legal profession and the public, and championed the rights of New Yorkers
through advocacy and guidance in our communities.
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Contact: Brendan Kennedybkennedy@nysba.org518-487-5541