NASHVILLE, TN — The legacy of the late, great civil rights leader and judge Rickard H. Dinkins is being honored by the school system he fought hard to improve. Dinkin’s efforts directly helped desegregate Nashville schools and reshape its school system. To commemorate his impact, Brick Church Middle School is now renamed Judge Richard H. Dinkins Middle School.
In his career, Dinkins spent time as the lead attorney for the Nashville school desegregation case, working on high-profile civil rights cases and discrimination cases, and working to create equity within Nashville schools. The dedication ceremony for Dinkins’ name was held at the school itself, located on Brick Church Pike in East Nashville.
“Education was something that was really important to my dad, and he truly believed that was at the core of a strong community, strong city, and a strong family as well,” said the son of the late judge, Ian Dinkins, while thanking the school board for honoring his father’s impact. The now Judge Richard H. Dinkins Middle School is already taking hopeful steps, as it rejoined MNPS this school year after operating as a charter school through Tennessee’s Achievement School District. The school was classified as a magnet school in October, along with three others, upon receiving federal funding from MNPS via grants awarded by Magnet Schools Assistance Program, in an effort to boost academics and reduce segregation.
All who receive money through the program, also known as the MSAP program, share the common goal of enhancing diversity in schools, an effort many say is still very much needed in Nashville. Currently, Richard H. Dinkins Middle School has a student body that is 80 percent Black and serves as an early college magnet. The school also provides a direct path to White Creek High School’s early college program, which allows students to gain up to 60 college credits before graduating.
Dinkins was appointed as the first Black judge on the Tennessee Court of Appeals, after serving on the Davidson County Chancery Court, in 2008 by then Democrat Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen, where he served until 2022. He would pass away in 2023 at the age of 71. During his time on the bench, Judge Dinkins would meticulously author hundreds of opinions and hear thousands of cases on civil law issues.
Dinkins was born in Nashville, and his father, the late Reverend Charles L. Dinkins, Sr., served as a pastor of First Baptist Church in East Nashville as well as the president of the Nashville branch of the NAACP. Rev. Dinkins also served as the president of Owens College when the family moved to Memphis in 1960.
Judge Dinkins would begin the first grade right as desegregation began, and received his undergraduate degree from Denison University before graduating from law school at Vanderbilt University in 1977. While in private practice, Dinkins would collaborate with Civil Rights legend State Senator Avon N. Williams, Jr. over a span of 20 years. During this time, Dinkins committed himself to desegregation work in Nashville, along with working as the cooperating attorney for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and the cooperating attorney for the Minority Business Enterprise Legal Defense and Educational Fund.
In his life, Dinkins would be recognized for the Nelson C. Andrews Distinguished Services Award from the Nashville Public Education Foundation for his “fierce advocacy for civil rights in public education,” and his “exemplary commitment to service.” He would also receive the Freedom Fighter Medal from the National Association for Equal Opportunity in Higher Education, as well as the William M. Leech Jr. Public Service Award from the Tennessee Bar Association.
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