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Legal Legends of Color Award Honorees

The eighth annual Legal Legends of Color Awards Celebration will take place Thursday, June 22. The Legal Legends of Color Awards Celebration demonstrates the NCBA’s commitment to embrace diversity and inclusion in the legal profession. The celebration is a time to recognize and honor attorneys and other legal professionals of color whose legacies represent ceilings broken for all attorneys who follow in their footsteps and whose impacts on the legal profession are undeniable.

2023 Legal Legends of Color Award Honorees
Judge Joe L. Webster
Judge Addie M. Harris Rawls (Ret.)
Former Rep. Annie Brown Kennedy (posthumous)
Secretary Pamela B. Cashwell
Brenda Ford Harding

Judge Joe L. Webster

Judge Webster, a native North Carolinian, grew up under hardworking Christian parents alongside five brothers and two sisters in the tobacco fields and textile mills in and around Madison, North Carolina. In 1972, he graduated from the local high school. He then entered Howard University where he graduated magna cum laude in 1976 and graduated from Howard University School of Law in 1979. Judge Webster also earned a Master of Laws degree in Judicial Studies from Duke University School of Law in 2016.

Upon graduating from Howard University School of Law, Judge Webster was selected as a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow and was assigned to work at Legal Services of Southern Piedmont in Charlotte, North Carolina. A year later, as the first African American attorney to practice law in Madison, North Carolina, Attorney Webster hung his shingle. For the next twenty-five years, he was primarily engaged in the general practice of law in Madison and in other mostly small towns. During this period, Attorney Webster also served as general counsel of the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and as a town attorney as part of his law practice. Judge Webster has also served as Deputy Director of Legal Services of North Carolina, Inc., and as an adjunct professor of law at the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University. His dedication to his legal profession includes 13 years on the North Carolina Board of Law Examiners, including two years as chair. He became a member of the North Carolina Bar Association in the 1980s and served as one of the first chairs of the newly formed Minorities in the Profession Committee. Currently, Judge Webster serves as a Vice President on the North Carolina Bar Association’s Board of Governors and Board of Directors.

In 2006, Judge Webster was appointed as an administrative law judge in the Office of Administrative Hearings for the State of North Carolina, and on November 7, 2012, was administered the oath of office as the first African American United States Magistrate Judge in the Middle District of North Carolina.

For over forty years, Judge Webster has been about faith, dedication to family, and community service. These three pillars lead him to accept a calling as a minister of the gospel, having preached his Initial Sermon on July 18, 1998, and was ordained by the Goodwill Baptist Church and High Point Educational and Missionary Baptist Association in July 2001. For the last 10 years, Judge Webster has served as an Associate Minister at Oberlin Baptist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. He views his ministry as one of encouraging the faithful and giving hope to the discouraged to persevere through the storms of life and to keep on seeking Jesus.

Judge Webster has been recognized for his contributions to the local, regional, and global communities by Howard University. In July 2018, Judge Webster was inducted into the Howard University Alumni Club of the Research Triangle Park Bison Hall of Fame. As a part of this recognition, a video entitled “Judge Webster-A life of Calm Purpose” was commissioned by the alumni club. He has received numerous other awards for his contributions to the legal profession and community. In 1985, he received North Carolina Bar Association’s Pro Bono Service Award for providing free or reduced fees to clients in Rockingham County, North Carolina. In 1986, he received the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyer’s Community Service Award. In February 2017, Judge Webster published his first book, The Making and Measure of a Judge: Biography of the Honorable Sammie Chess Jr. (Chapel Hill Press.) He has authored numerous articles for publication in state and national bar and university journals, including “Saving Our Profession: It’s Up to Us,” “A giant among judges and men,” and “the Stigma of Mental Illness.”

On May 3, 2023, Judge Webster and his wife, Diane, celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary. They are the immensely proud parents of two daughters, one son, and seven grandchildren. As a hobby, Judge Webster enjoys playing golf and writing.

Judge Addie M. Harris Rawls (Ret.)

From humble beginnings in Washington, NC, God has blessed Addie Marica Harris Rawls to achieve much and she truly believes that “to whom much is given much is required.” Judge Rawls has worked diligently throughout her life. She graduated high school with the highest-grade point average in her class. She was also recognized as “Who’s Who Among American High School Students.” Judge Rawls attended Wake Forest University as a George Foster Hankins Scholar and later attended North Carolina Central University School of Law as a Board of Governor’s Scholar. She graduated cum laude and was licensed to practice law in the State of North Carolina in August 1989. After law school, Judge Rawls served as a law clerk at the North Carolina Court of Appeals. In August of 1991, she began working in the Eleventh Prosecutorial District covering Harnett, Johnston and Lee Counties as the first African American Assistant District Attorney. She served in that position for over ten years prior to becoming appointed to the District Court Bench on January 25, 2002 as the first elected African American Judge for the Eleventh Judicial District. She has served five successful terms as an elected District Court Judge in Johnston, Harnett, and Lee counties. Judge Rawls recently retired from the State of North Carolina on January 31, 2022 after 32 1/2 years of service. While serving on the judicial bench, she was firm, but fair as she embraced her campaign slogan, “a judge who stands for justice does more than sit on a bench.”

Judge Rawls is a renowned keynote and motivational speaker and has traveled the United States delivering a message that one person can make a difference and that with God all things are possible. As a minister of the gospel, she answered her call to pastor and planted a local ministry in Smithfield, North Carolina called the New Generation Christian Church. New Generation is a community church seeking to meet the needs of the community. The motto of the church is “step by step we make this journey.” In 2021, she graduated from the Lexington Theological Seminary with a Masters in Theological Studies.

Judge Rawls is passionate about serving her community. She currently serves on the following committees and organizations: the Johnston County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council; the Clayton High School Advisory Council; Johnston, Lee, Harnett Community Action Board of Directors; the Community Back to School Youth Explosion Committee and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Judge Rawls has received numerous awards such as The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, Paul Harris Fellow by Smithfield Rotarians, three 103.9 The Light Lamplighter Awards, and many more.

More importantly, she believes that “whatever your hands find to do, do it mightily as unto the Lord.” “You may build cathedrals large or small; you may build skyscrapers grand and tall; you may conquer all the failures of your past; but only what you do for Christ will last.”

Annie Brown KennedyFormer Rep. Annie Brown Kennedy (posthumous)

A native of Atlanta, Annie Brown Kennedy received a bachelor’s degree in economics from Spelman College and a law degree from Howard University School of Law. In 1954, Kennedy passed the N.C. Bar Examination, and she began practicing law as a sole practitioner. She was the second Black woman attorney in North Carolina and the second woman attorney to practice law in Forsyth County.

In 1955, her husband, Harold Kennedy Jr. joined her in the practice of law, forming one of the first husband and wife partnerships in the state. The Kennedys’ handled several landmark cases including Simpkins vs. City of Greensboro, which desegregated golf courses and other public recreational facilities in the south. As their firm continued to handle civil rights cases across the state, Annie Brown Kennedy remained deeply engaged in local politics as a member of the Association of Women Attorneys, NAACP, YMCA, League of Women Voters, and United Way. She was a founding member and President of the interracial Democratic Women of Forsyth County and the Society for the Study of African American History.

In 1982, Annie Brown Kennedy was elected to the North Carolina House of Representatives, becoming the first Black woman to serve in the North Carolina General Assembly. She went on to win six consecutive terms as a member of the North Carolina General Assembly, and served the North Carolina General Assembly for 13 years. As a member of the North Carolina House of Representatives, her focus was the status of welfare of families, women, and African Americans, among other issues. She also worked to draw the district designed to elect Black candidates to Congress, the North Carolina General Assembly, the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners, and the Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Board of Education. During her political career, she served as President of the Forsyth County Bar Association, the first Black woman Presidential Elector in North Carolina in 1976, and was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in 1984.

In 1994, Annie Brown Kennedy chose not to seek reelection; instead, she returned to practicing law in a family-run firm with her husband and two of their three sons. Today, Kennedy, Kennedy, Kennedy, & Kennedy, LLP is the oldest law firm of Black attorneys in the state of North Carolina. Since its inception, the firm has expanded to represent cases involving employment law, medical malpractice, and wrongful death cases.

Annie Brown Kennedy also received numerous awards and honors, including the Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement award presented by the American Bar Association in 2002.

Secretary Pamela B. Cashwell

Governor Roy Cooper named Pamela Brewington Cashwell Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Administration (DOA) in April 2021.

As DOA Secretary, Cashwell oversees the state agency whose mission is to serve as a business manager for the state of North Carolina and a voice for underserved communities through its advocacy programs and boards and commissions.

DOA is a statewide administrator, managing government operations spanning from building construction, facility maintenance, purchasing and contracting and state vehicles to mail services, surplus and state properties. The agency also provides programs and services for North Carolina’s diverse populations including women and youth, American Indians, and historically underutilized businesses. Secretary Cashwell is the first American Indian woman to lead a cabinet department in the state’s history. She hails from the Coharie and Lumbee tribes of NC.

Prior to her appointment as DOA Secretary, Cashwell served as Senior Policy Advisor and Chief Deputy Secretary for Professional Standards, Policy and Planning at the NC Department of Public Safety (DPS). Before joining DPS, Cashwell was the Assistant Director at the NC State Ethics Commission. She has 10 years of federal government service as a trial attorney in the Civil Rights Division and the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Dept. of Justice, as well as at the U.S. Attorneys Office in the Eastern District of Virginia.

Cashwell holds a B.A. in economics from UNC–Chapel Hill and a JD from the UNC School of Law. In her role as Secretary she chairs the NC Commission on Inclusion, the Andrea Harris Equity Task Force and serves on the NC Commission of Indian Affairs, the NCWorks Commission, the Information Technology Strategy Board, the NC Interagency Council for Coordinating Homelessness Programs and the Governor’s Advisory Council on Hispanic/ Latino Affairs.

She lives in Wake County with her husband, David, and two sons, Samuel and Benjamin.

Brenda Ford Harding

Attorney Brenda Ford Harding is a native of her beloved Durham, North Carolina. As a child, Brenda began her journey as a part of the civil rights movement due to the influence of family members who worked with Martin Luther King, Jr. She earned her B.S. degree in Biology from Boston University in 1976 and her J.D. degree in 1979 from UNC School of Law, where she was a member of the Moot Court Bench.

After becoming the first legal intern in her class, Brenda was awarded the national Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship for Community Lawyers. This fellowship enabled her to work, at then-North Central Legal Assistance Program in the community while also maintaining a court-based case load. During this time, one of the major litigations she worked on was the Crest Street case, which fought the construction of what is now the Durham Freeway. That construction was devastating to Durham Black community, including the historic Hayti area. Although Brenda was a young lawyer working on the case, it was then that she knew community work was her calling.

After her fellowship, Brenda moved to eastern North Carolina to work at East Carolina Legal Services in Wilson. It was at ECLS that she began work on voting rights litigation and won her first case in this area. This litigation was in both state and federal courts.

Feeling the pull of Durham and home, Brenda next took a role as the Executive Director of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers Land Loss Prevention Project. The goal of the project was to prevent the loss of land from Black landowners. Later, Brenda became Acting Director of the Civil Litigation Project and an Adjunct Professor at North Carolina Central University School of Law.

Brenda’s drive to help low-income communities, and to litigate, led her to return to legal services as Executive Director of North State Legal Services in Hillsborough. During her leadership, North State was very active in the community and work on high impact cases.

Seeing the opportunity to return to voting rights and other civil rights issues, because of Legal Services Corporation prohibition from working on many of these issues, in 2001, she moved to Washington, D.C. to become Deputy Director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights. Here she worked with the staff on policy and on litigation at all levels in state and federal courts. One of Brenda’s major personal and professional joys was to attend the United Nations Conference of Racism in Durbin, South Africa. Being at the right place at the right time enabled Brenda to meet Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Fidel Castro!

In 2006, Brenda returned to legal services as the Executive Director of Neighborhood Legal Services in D.C. Serving as chief executive of a community law office, she was responsible for the overall operation of the program, litigation, and community activity.

Again, feeling the pull of her beloved Durham, Brenda retired and returned home in 2012. During this time, she provided pro se assistance to low-income persons, was active in the community, and served on numerous boards, including as a chair of the board for the Transformative Justice Coalition in Washington, D.C. She also experienced the joy of being an active and involved grandmother.

In 2018, Brenda was asked by incoming Durham Country District Attorney Satana DeBerry to come out of retirement to serve as the Deputy Chief for Legal and Community Affairs and a member of her leadership team. Excited by DA Deberry’s vision for progressive prosecution, she agreed.

Brenda has received numerous awards and honors including from the Advocates for Justice (UDC Law School) and the Durham Human Relations Commission, as well as the Outstanding Chair Award for both D.C. and N.C. legal aid groups, and Outstanding Attorney (North Carolina Association of Women Attorneys). Brenda is a life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority.

Brenda resides in Durham with her husband, Robert Harding. She is the mother of Jasmine McGhee, Senior Deputy Attorney General at the North Carolina Department of Justice, Robert Harding Jr., and Sherise Harding. Her greatest joy is spending time with her wonderful granddaughters: Wynter, Josephine, London, and Na’Talia.

Previous Legal Legends of Color Honorees

  • 2022 Honorees – Judge Ola M. Lewis (posthumously), Attorney Arlinda F. Locklear, Attorney Margaret Dudley, Attorney Georgia Jacquez Lewis
  • 2021 Honorees – Judge Elreta Melton Alexander (posthumously), Attorney Karen Bethea-Shields, Judge Wanda G. Bryant, Professor James E. Coleman, Jr., Attorney Julian Pierce (posthumously)
  • 2020 Honorees – Judge Yvonne Mims Evans, Attorney Anthony Fox, Attorney J. Kenneth Lee* (posthumously), Senator Dan T. Blue, Jr., Professor George R. Johnson, Jr.
  • 2019 Honorees – Professor Charles Daye, Former U.S. Attorney Janice McKenzie Cole, Former Legislator H. M. “Mickey” Michaux Jr., Judge Sammie Chess, Attorney Julius Chambers (posthumously)
  • 2018 Honorees – Judge Shirley Fulton, Judge Paul Jones, Attorney Glenn Adams, Attorney Victor Boone
  • 2017 Honorees – Judge Albert Diaz, Former Justice Patricia Timmons-Goodson, Professor Irving Joyner
  • 2016 Honorees – Chief Justice Cheri Lynn Beasley, Former Chief Justice Henry E. Frye, Attorney James E. “Fergie” Ferguson II