On Tuesday September 30, 2008 Attorney J.L. Chestnut, a beloved hero of the civil rights movement died. For myself and for every African American Lawyer in America, I want to thank Attorney Chestnut “Chess” for all he did to demonstrate to the world that African Americans can be great attorneys. I write these words of thanks for the splendid life he fashioned, the fantastic law firm he established, Chestnut, Sanders, Sanders & Pettaway and the happiness he achieved through his many accomplishments, and even more, through the wonderful family he reared in partnership with his beautiful wife Vivian.                                      

I can still remember the first time I met Attorney Chestnut. I was with my former boss Carolyn Gaines-Varner the sister of Faya Ora Rose Toure. Carolyn introduced us and Attorney Chestnut said something so hilarious I bent over with laughter. He was good-humored. He was witty. He was charming. He was funnier than Chris Rock and more brilliant than Albert Einstein. I admired him greatly. He was truly the Dean of African American Lawyers in Alabama. 

So much has been written about this great man in the last few days since his passing. So much so that there isn’t much left for me to write about that has not already been written. However I will try to add a few more thoughts about this great warrior. 

Attorney Chestnut practiced law with “style”. He was a true artist and it was a joy for any member of the Alabama Bar to see him at work, showing off his skills and observing him encase even his most hostile barbs in the therapeutic of great humor. In Alabama and abroad Attorney Chestnut achieved reputation and distinction. He represented the great and the small with equal zeal. 

He became Selma’s first black attorney in 1959, just five years after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark Brown v. Board of Education school desegregation decision. He would later become one of the most distinguished attorneys in America. He lived by the conviction that the law was a noble ministry, not just another occupation. In addition to carrying his large professional responsibilities, he did more than his share in the communal and philanthropic life of the Selma community. 

With Attorney J.L. Chestnut now gone, I wonder if the Alabama State Bar will ever be the same. He was a Martin Luther King Jr., Thurgood Marshall and a Barack Obama all rolled up in one. He was an uncompromising giant unafraid to tackle controversial issues and fight injustice everywhere he found it. We will miss him greatly.  

With love in my heart, with thanks for the memory of your greatness, I say Good night, my hero!

In the words of my dad, “If these gas prices get any higher I am going to buy me a horse!”