ORLANDO, FL — Okoye Morgan knew he wanted to be a lawyer in high school. After years of hard work and dedication, Morgan made his dream come true.
Now, in his third year at Florida A&M University (FAMU) College of Law, Morgan desires to give something back to the community. He gathered his thoughts of the importance of a legal education and wrote a children’s book called The Boy Who Went to Law School.
“I wrote a book encouraging youth to enter into the legal profession,” said Morgan. “It is important to have a children’s book that represents people of color achieving professional studies such as law.”
Morgan read a lot of books as a child growing up in St. Petersburg, Florida. The prospective 2021 FAMU Law graduate plans to practice personal injury and civil litigation after law school.
Looking at racial disparity in the legal field, Morgan points to the 2019 American Bar Association report listing 85 percent of lawyers as white, compared to 77 percent of the U.S. population. Only 5 percent of lawyers are African American, 5 percent are Hispanic, and 3 percent are Asian.
FAMU Law boasts of producing lawyers who are Rattlers for Justice. “I want to be a lawyer to create change whether in policy or litigation. To defend those that have been harmed and are in need of justice. Our neighborhoods usually don’t have lawyers or curriculum that suggest going into the legal profession. I wanted to create something that kids could see in picture and story form to change their recurring narrative of literature depicting mostly athletics or entertainment,” said Morgan.
Morgan says his mentors were Wille Gary and H.T. Smith-two legal giants.
For more information about Morgan’s book, please contact Okoye1.morgan@famu.edu.
