Ever since I tweeted about my experience with John Lewis and also about my Dad, Judge John Henry England Jr., reading the resolution renaming Nott Hall, many people have contacted me and asked to know more about him. Well, let me tell you a few things. 
He was born in Uniontown but grew up in Birmingham. He graduated @TuskegeeUniv in 1969. He was pretty active in college. Example? He may have been involved in locking the administration up in their offices during a protest. However, he also made time for the ignorant bench too.
In 1969, my Dad went to @UALawSchool. He along with Michael Figures, Booker Forte Jr. and Ronald Jackson were the first Black students to attend the Law School. However, he did not graduate until 1974 because he served 2 years in the Army during the Vietnam War.
While at UA Law, my dad met John A. Bivens, who would later become my Dad’s law partner at their firm England & Bivens. It was one of the first Black Law Firms in the State of Alabama. They did it all. If you needed help, they would take you whether you could pay or not.
He did a lot of voting rights and civil rights work. Check the image for example. This image is not provided for the commentary. I bring it out because my Dad and several other local attorneys were local counsel for the Civil Rights leaders referred to in this tweet. Amazing huh?
During the time my dad was practicing law in Tuscaloosa, the City had a commission form of government that was three members, all white, with no minority representation. To make a LONG story short, my Dad and Jack Drake sued the City to create minority representation.
As a result of the lawsuit, Tuscaloosa settled the case, agreed to change to a council-mayor form of government, and increased the membership from 3 to 7. In 1985, my Dad, along with Charles Steele, became the first two Black people to serve on Tuscaloosa’s City Council.
In 1993, Gov. Jim Folsom appointed my Dad to the Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court and subsequently was elected to a full term the following year. He became the first Black person in Tuscaloosa County history to hold and then be elected to a countywide elected office.
In 1999, Gov. Don Siegelman appointed him to the Alabama Supreme Court. At the time, and still to this day, he was the third Black person to serve on that Court. The other two? Oscar Adams and Ralph Cook. My Dad and Ralph Cook served on the court at the same time for two years.
Interesting story about that. So, when it came time to run, everyone told my Dad that he shouldn’t show his face in his ads. At the time (the year 2000) convential wisdom was that White Alabamians were less likely to vote for a Black candidate if they knew he was Black.
So you know what he did? You guessed it. He shot a commercial and put us all in it. We were all over it. The commercial also featured Senator Howell Heflin telling Alabamians to vote for my dad because he had “good ole fashioned horse sense.”
Another interesting story? When Siegelman was considering appointing my Dad to the Supreme Court, as I said earlier, Ralph Cook, was already on the Court. There was immediate concern that two Black candidates would be too many running at the same time causing both to lose.
My Dad and Ralph Cook actually had that conversation. My Dad was concerned but Justice Cook was undeterred. Despite knowing what could happen, he not only wanted my Dad to accept the appointment, he ENCOURAGED him to take it. Ralph Cook is a great man.
Unfortunately, they both lost. After losing, Governor Siegelman appointed my Dad back to the Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court where he still serves to this day. Unfortunately, this will be his last term because he has aged out. He will be missed on the bench in Tuscaloosa.
He currently serves on Alabama’s Board of Trustess as well. He serves on so many boards in so many organizations in so many different roles that it is impossible to list them all. Seriously, the man hardly tells anyone no. Instead, he just quietly figures out how to get it done.
Honestly, these tweets don’t do him any justice. I am leaving a lot out. He is a great man that me, my brother John and my sister April are lucky to be able to call Dad. He is OUR hero. He has opened so many doors for so many that it would be impossible to properly thank him.
He doesn’t meet a stranger. He is the smartest man I know. He has this uncanny ability to make the most complex things seem so simple and understandable. He has never been afraid to cause #GoodTrouble when necessary. And, by the way, he is a pretty cool dude too!
So, after all the questions I have gotten about him recently, I wanted to make sure that people at least had an idea of who the person is helping to lead the charge to remove the vestiges of racism on Alabama’s campus. I may be biased, but I believe that we are in good hands.
