To celebrate Black History Month 2022, the CBA's YLS D&I committee is shining a spotlight on local Black attorneys in the Greater Cincinnati legal community. CBA members nominated local Black attorneys for recognition, and YLS D&I committee co-chairs Jenna Heaphy and Zachary el-Sawaf conducted interviews to learn more about them.
Up first: Danyel Rickman. Rickman is an associate attorney with Bricker & Eckler LLP. You can read her interview below, and an essay she wrote for the CBA Report in 2020 is available here.
1) What does representation mean to you in the legal field?
Representation means active inclusion of underrepresented groups in the rooms and forums where decisions impacting the legal field, both big and small, are made. Ultimately, for me representation is about making sure the viewpoints of underrepresented folks are seriously considered and included.
2) What advice would you give to other black attorneys or law school students following in your footsteps?
Before every professional transition after law school, I suggest Black attorneys make sure to protect their belief in their worth. Own that you are the one who got into law school, the one who obtained that J.D., the one who sat and passed the bar, the one who successfully displayed talents during interviews, and who successfully gained employment. You did that, not the corporation you work for, not the court you clerk for, not the firm that hired you—no one can take that from you. Be continually conscious and aware that you belong and are worth every opportunity and experience you may encounter.
3) Where have you found the most support, mentorship, or guidance?
I’ve found the most support, mentorship, and guidance from the many Black women I’ve encountered on my journey to where I find myself now. Not only veterans like Tammy Bennet and Dean Verna Williams but I have also found solace in my peers who, like me, find themselves being a Black attorney in 2022. The value of simultaneous mentorship from Black women who have “already done it” and from Black women who are “doing it” now cannot be understated. Its value became crystal clear to me during my last transition. These women cheered me on, gave me tough love when I needed it, directed my resume to the right places, and prayed, fiercely, for and with me.
4) When thinking about your legacy, what would you like your legacy to be?
I want my legacy to be rooted in lifting those who follow me. I strongly value being a resource to Black students in law school and to anyone else I could possibly help to navigate practice as Black lawyers. That value was reinforced after my daughter, Brooklyn was born. As a parent, I want her pursuit of her dreams to be easier than my pursuit of my dreams. But beyond her, I want every Black attorney coming after me to find the road a bit easier, to have a level of access to law school, jobs, mentorship, and anything else that makes their professional lives easier than mine.
5) What has been your greatest achievement outside of law?
My greatest achievement outside of the law is my home life—I am so proud of the environment my husband and I have cultivated for our family.
6) What do you think about when you hear "Black History Month"?
First, Black History is American History. When I hear “Black History Month” the cynical part of me thinks about the commercialization of the month and about the parts of celebrating the month that feels routine. But the part of me that isn’t as cynical thinks about the month in a way that hopes that if we engage in the month with intention and purpose to learn more about Black History and to spotlight Black Americans making an impact across every field we collectively participate in, then maybe Black History month challenges whatever biases about Black people folks hold and maybe it works to encourage Black people by reflecting on where we’ve come from and where we are headed.
7) What does/has Black History Month meant to you (past and present)?
When I started law school, BHM took on a different meaning. I had a new lens of the law and being one of the few Black women in the law school, it started to click in a more profound way. Now, I like to think of BHM as reminder of everything Black people are and have been and use it as opportunity to round out my own gaps in Black History.
8) What does being a Black woman mean to you?
In this moment right now, it means that there are many paths that seem to be open for us collectively, but at the same time, it still feels like we have to prove that we have the right or ability to be on these paths. Being a Black woman means being empowered, determined, and unique but it also means being fed up with having to “recite” my resume before my abilities are recognized.
9) Why is it important to take the time of BHM to reflect, and think back, and celebrate Blackness in all of its forms?
For Black people, we are our ancestors’ wildest dreams – we have to celebrate that during BHM. Yes, there is work to be done but there is so much value in having joy and pride in what we’ve achieved thus far. For everyone else, it’s important to pause during BHM and reflect not only on the historical elements of the Black experience in America but to also reflect on the current experience of Black Americans because doing so because there is value in simply knowing.