Down by law.

YOU ARE TO BE COMMENDED FOR YOUR OUTSTANDING cover story, "America's Top Black Lawyers" [November 2003]. The article clearly demonstrates the barriers we have penetrated over the past three decades, due in no small part to the efforts of the legal legends who paved the way.

I am delighted to have worked with [Editor at Large] Carolyn Brown to facilitate the participation of Elaine R. Jones and Theodore M. Shaw of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund (LDF). It was remarkable to see that many of the other top lawyers and contemporary history makers you profiled also have ties to LDF, which has long been a magnet for the nation's most stellar civil rights advocates. In fact, Thurgood Marshall founded the organization in 1940. As you note, Marshall's mentor and co-strategist on Brown v. Board of Education was Charles Hamilton Houston. And J.L. Chestnut Jr., William Henry Hastie, and A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. all worked on groundbreaking LDF cases that helped to dismantle the shackles of segregation. In addition to former director-counsel Julius L. Chambers, who co-chairs the LDF board of directors, Constance Baker Motley, Drew S. Days III, Deval L. Patrick, and Constance Rice are among the legion of Prominent lawyers who began their careers at LDF.

For more than 60 years, LDF has been engaged in the pursuit of equal justice. Over the years, LDF has been involved in more cases before the U.S. Supreme Court than any organization except the U.S. Department of Justice. LDF's efforts to eliminate racial barriers have helped to usher in an era of unparalleled success for African Americans and produced a nation that is both more just and more prosperous.

Nathea Lee

Washington, D.C.

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INSPIRATIONAL! I CAN THINK OF NO BETTER word to describe the November 2003 cover story. I've been a subscriber to BLACK ENTERPRISE for some time, and although every issue touches me in one way or another, none has come close to this.

I am two months away from getting my undergraduate degree in economics, and I've been battling with what I want my ultimate career to be. I'd decided to just take a "regular" job in the short-term, because I assumed that my goal of achieving a business-oriented entertainment career would be difficult and nearly unattainable due to my lack of internships or mass communications background. I considered law school in the past but had no desire to practice courtroom law and had no luck researching acceptable alternative uses for a law degree.

I can truly say that "America's Top Black Lawyers" has given me renewed enthusiasm and a new look into areas such as intellectual property and entertainment law. Since reading the article, I've spoken with law students, the director of career services at my university, family and friends. Their encouragement, along with my own analysis of my true interests, leads me to say, Thank you, BE! Now, more than ever before, I think I've found a career venture that fits me and that I can be excited about. I'm trying to make your cover in about 10-15 years, so look out!

Kyonda Cooper

New Orleans

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I RECEIVED MY NOVEMBER 2003 ISSUE OF BE on Thursday. I started reading it on Friday and couldn't put it down. It was like reading a good book that just gets better and better. All of the articles were so interesting that I thought I had some type of prize waiting for me at the end of the magazine. This issue was really great--keep up the good work.

Kim Watts

New Orleans

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