Us & Them: America’s Civil Rights Champion

Many people know Thurgood Marshall as the first African American U.S. Supreme Court justice, however, first he had a long and distinguished career with the American Civil Liberties Union and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund. 

On this episode of Us & Them, Trey Kay hosts a community conversation highlighting Thurgood Marshall’s legacy and sharing excerpts from a new Maryland Public Television documentary “Becoming Thurgood: America’s Social Architect.” 

Marshall was the lead attorney for the plaintiffs in the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education case which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. His work used the law as a tool for social change while dismantling institutional racism and inspiring social reforms.

This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from Maryland Public Television, the Greater Kanawha Valley Foundation and the CRC Foundation.

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West Virginia Public Broadcasting recently hosted a community conversation highlighting a new documentary “Becoming Thurgood: America’s Social Architect” on the life and legacy of Thurgood Marshall, produced by Maryland Public Television (MPT). The film, directed by Alexis Aggrey, examines Marshall’s journey from Baltimore to the U.S. Supreme Court, tracing his legal strategy, moral vision, and enduring impact on American constitutional law and civil rights. The documentary is airing on PBS member stations across the country.

Learn more about the Brad D. Smith Center for Business and Innovation.  

Learn more about Marshall University.

“If you go back to my humble beginnings in Dayton, Ohio, where I grew up, my sister and I integrated the Catholic schools in Dayton in 1972, which was after the brutal civil rights activities of the ’50s and ’60s.

I can’t tell you how many names I was called those early years until we got through the first few years. My parents said, ‘We’re not leaving.’ That wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for some of the victories we’re talking about with Thurgood Marshall. That prepared me to go on to high school … and then on to the University of Kentucky.

If it weren’t for some of these laws and the fights done back in the ’40s, ’50s, ’60s and ’70s, I may not have had the opportunity to compete, and that’s what propelled me into my corporate career.

Once you were able to prove yourself, there’s still a fight. There’s still a fight to keep proving yourself over and over again. That’s part of his legacy … the persistence, the strategy, the tactics, the support, because nobody does anything on their own.

I don’t care how many people say, ‘I did it all by myself.’ Nobody does anything by themselves.”

— Clinton Arnold, professor at West Virginia State University (one of West Virginia’s two HBCUs). Arnold is also CEO of KISRA — the Kanawha Institute for Social Research & Action — a nonprofit focused on workforce development, reentry support and strengthening families.

Learn more about Clinton Arnold.

“I think [Thurgood] Marshall did more through his achievements to change American society. The change was lasting. The change, I think, is forever. We live in a different world in 2025 than the world that existed in 1950, and it is because of Marshall.

We believe we have rights in America, and someone may threaten those rights, but I believe that society at large will be determined that those rights must be preserved and respected. I don’t know what the end looks like, but just like Marshall, we have to play a long game in this world.

We have to say this is the goal, and there may be steps to getting there. We may not get everything we want all at one time, but that doesn’t mean that you don’t continue to go to that goal, and I think that is the legacy.”

— Patricia Proctor, J.D. is the founding director of Marshall University’s Simon Perry Center for Constitutional Democracy.

Learn more about Marshall University’s Simon Perry Center for Constitutional Democracy.

“In terms of West Virginia, we have a rich history of scholars and lawyers who attacked the racialized status quo. We can start with J.R. Clifford, the first African American lawyer in the state. Here’s a man of great intelligence, great passion, civil rights presence and identity.

He sees a state that is not adhering to its constitution and is segregating and treating Black people with inferiority. What he does, then, is utilize the law, like Thurgood Marshall, to attack and ameliorate the obstacles of Jim Crowism that exist in the state.

It’s paradoxical when we talk about West Virginia because certainly … there were challenges, there were Jim Crow prescriptions, but there was also progressiveness that existed here. It was compelled by Black agency that many times forced white legislators and the courts to adjust accordingly.”

— Cicero M. Fain III, historian and assistant provost for Inclusive Excellence at Marshall University

Learn more about Cicero M. Fain III.

“I attended Catholic school where most of the students were Black, then went on to St. Joe where most of the students were white. From the time I was four or five years old, my father embedded in me that I was representing his family, his race, his people.

No matter where I was or what I was doing, I was representing my father — and I was never to disappoint him or be told I didn’t do what I was supposed to do as a Black woman.

I can’t imagine how Thurgood Marshall felt when he was threatened, but I know how it feels. Every Black person has been in that situation. Who in this room hasn’t been threatened or harassed?

I don’t want that for my children — but I know it will happen. My job is to fortify them to handle it. That is my responsibility. We cannot stop this fight. We cannot stop the progress that’s been made. We are not going back.”

— Sandra Clements

“One of the things you don’t know if you haven’t been in an HBCU — a predominantly Black HBCU — is that the community is built around supporting you … in ways you don’t see if you don’t go to those institutions. When you think about fraternities and sororities, and the level of Black excellence they demand, there’s a social structure created around that.

In our aerospace engineering programs, all of our lab experiments and case studies were done around Black excellence — something you don’t get in predominantly non-Black universities. Black excellence means you’re always given examples and opportunities to show where you’re the best in a particular field — not just equivalent.

So when you’re studying civil rights, or the transition from slavery to freedom, you look at the Booker T. Washington and Frederick Douglass letters … you analyze the writing styles, the research, the excellence in communication. You look at Lincoln, Langston Hughes, music, the arts — always through that lens.

You never see an example that’s any less than that. What HBCUs do is create a culture that is always showing excellence — and demanding that you come in with that excellence.”

— Alan Letton, reflecting on the culture of historically Black colleges and universities and their importance in the education of Thurgood Marshall.