When the Unlikely Are Chosen

by Kathryn Streeter Lewis

Overview

A little black girl witnessed unbridled power, as four white men broke down the front door to her next-door neighbor's home. "Be quiet girl! That's the law," was the only explanation anyone gave her when she asked why? That event ignited within her a desire to become a lawyer. All of this unfolded in the Strawberry Mansion section of North Philadelphia, an impoverished neighborhood where the sweetness of strawberries did not invoke a sense of well-being; and the people who lived there never expected to set foot in any mansion. This was the 1950s. The Civil Rights Movement was gaining momentum. She had no idea that little girls weren't expected to become lawyers when they grew up. When The Unlikely Are Chosen is a memoir that exposes a time when many hurdles were placed in the paths of marginalized and economically disadvantaged children--especially girls, who aspired beyond entrenched boundaries. Remnants of that time still remain. It also underscores the importance of fatherhood, family and the vision required within the village to raise a child, not just to become a lawyer, but to prepare for life.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781733398244
Publisher:	Zion Publishing
Publication date:	03/28/2020
Pages:	234
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Judge Kathryn Streeter Lewis was born in the 1950s. Her parents lived in public housing before moving the family to a two-story row house in North Philadelphia. It was there, at six years old, that Kathryn witnessed and incident that ignited her unlikely dream to become a lawyer. Kathryn was reared as the middle of five children and attended public schools in Philadelphia. She graduated from Simon Gratz High School and The University of Pennsylvania. After graduating from college, and before attending Villanova University School of Law ,she taught in a public junior high school in the neighborhood where she grew up. Once she graduated from law school, Kathryn dedicated her career to public service including, working with community based nonprofits to develop housing for low and moderate income families, counsel to the Chairman of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission and ultimately rising through the ranks to become First Deputy City Solicitor responsible for the city's government-funded housing and major development projects. In 1988, the governor of Pennsylvania appointed her to serve as a trial judge on the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia. Judge Lewis has also been committed to education. She served as an adjunct professor at Villanova University Law School for more than 15 years. Judge Lewis retired from the bench after more than 20 years, where she served in the Family, Trial and Orphans Court Divisions. Judge Lewis continues to be active in her church, community and the legal profession. She is married with one son and resides in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.