The Honorable Judge Jeralynn Manor is Living Proof that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s Dream for America is Achievable for People Who Dare to Believe
AUBREY R. TAYLOR REPORTS©
The truth of the matter is that there are some “GOOD DEMOCRATS” and “SOME BAD DEMOCRATS” in Harris County, Texas – that’s just a fact. And the same holds true for Republicans, there are some “GOOD REPUBLICANS” and “SOME BAD REPUBLICANS” in Harris County, Texas. But today isn’t about good and bad – it’s about right and wrong. A lot of what we see going on in America today is dirty politics in my opinion. And the sad part about it is that during times like these, it’s hard to distinguish who is on the side of right, and who is standing on the wrong side of things. So, to be brutally honest, when you really look at it, no man knows the heart of any other person who is walking the earth. So, as we pause to celebrate the 2021 Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday let’s pause for a moment to just think about what he really meant when he said, “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” And as I reflect on this momentous day, I can’t help but believe that Dr. King had people like Judge Jeralynn Manor in mind when he spoke forward those powerful words many years ago. Why? Well, this newly elected judge is someone who has a love for all humanity. If you ask me, our world is filled with people like Judge Jeralynn Manor – but it’s just tough to see them through the partisan fighting, dirty politics, talks of whose cheating by harvesting absentee ballots, and whose qualified or not to be judges. But through all of the chatter, I continue to hold fast to the realization, that our “HEAVENLY FATHER” is the controller of outcomes. And He isn’t slumbering or sleeping on this 18th Day of January during the year of 2021. So, as we pause to think about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his dream for a brighter America, please know that his dream lives on through people like you, me, and the Honorable Judge Jeralynn Manor of the 80th Civil District Court in Harris County, Texas.
AUBREY R. TAYLOR COMMUNICATIONS
957 NASA PARKWAY #251
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058-3039
PHONE: (832)212-8735
CELL: (281)788-3033
The Honorable Judge Jeralynn Manor wanted to become a judge from the time she was 7 years old. And on Friday, January 1, 2021 her dream of becoming a judge became a reality in Harris County, Texas, as she was sworn-in as the presiding judge for the 80th Civil District Court."
THE DREAM LIVES
Judge Jeralynn Manor was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana. Her mother was a nurse, and her father, a career officer with the New Orleans Police Department. There he set the bar high for his daughter. He attained numerous awards and accommodations, including various achievements, such as becoming the first African American counter-sniper for the SWAT department and the first African American diver on the dive team. Judge Manor’s hard work and high goal standards are certainly founded in her bloodline. Judge Jeralynn Manor’s “service to all mankind” mantra and dedication to her craft is evidenced in her career achievements.
She studied philosophy at Xavier University in New Orleans before finishing her undergraduate studies in Administration of Justice at Texas Southern University. She went on to Thurgood Marshall School of Law, where she earned the American Juris Prudence Award in Bankruptcy under the tutelage of the Honorable Justice Manual Leal of the Southern District of Texas Bankruptcy Court. She also and won 1st place in a Mock Trial competition while at the historically Black institution of higher learning. And in 2001 she earned her Juris Doctorate and became a licensed attorney by the Texas Supreme Court. In her 18 plus years of practicing law, she worked in several areas. She concentrated her early career as a closing attorney for 3 major title companies. In this area of practice, she played an integral role in helping thousands of Texans achieve the dream of home-ownership.
Prior to become judge for the 80th Civil District Court, the Honorable Judge Jeralynn Manor practiced law in the areas of Personal Injury, Mass Tort, Civil Rights, Immigration and, Employment Law. She’s a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc., Texas Trial Lawyers Association, the Pro Bono College of the Texas State Bar, and a member of the Champions of Justice Society of the Texas Equal Access to Justice. Judge Manor is also an NAACP- Life Member and has served in leadership roles with Boy Scouts of America as Den Mother to her son’s pack. She is also on the board of directors of The Black Heritage Society/Original MLK Parade Foundation. She enjoys being a mother to her three children Taft, Rogdrick, and Brooklynn (7). She instills into her children the same values of hard work, dedication, service to all mankind, and love, passed on to her by her father, the late Sgt. Jerome M. Dupre.
Jeralynn Manor made becoming a judge look easy, but it was anything but that. First she had to defeat a power fellow Democrat who was sitting on the 80th Civil District Court bench -- Judge Larry Weiman. In case you don't remember, Judge Weiman had nearly every Democratic endorsement, including the support of many local Black political organizations. However, she still unseated Judge Weiman back on Tuesday, March 3, 2020, by waging a come-from-behind victory after trailing Judge Weiman in the "ABSENTEE BALLOT" category. As a refresher, Judge Weiman received, 12,102 absentee ballots, and Jeralynn Manor only received 11,634 absentee ballots. However, after trailing, Manor took a commanding lead during the "EARLY VOTING" phase and never relinquished her lead. After the "ELECTION DAY" voting was complete, Jeralynn Manor defeated Judge Weiman by garnering 149,388 votes, for 60.43% of the vote. As for Judge Weiman, he could only muster 97,829 votes, for 39.57% of the vote. Then on, Tuesday, November 3, 2020, Jeralynn Manor took out her Republican rival, Sharon Hemphill in similar fashion by garnering 53.47% of the vote to become the presiding judge for the 80th Civil District Court in Harris County, Texas.
PATHWAY TO THE BENCH
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., once said, “We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” As I ponder these powerful words, I can’t help but think about the Honorable Judge Jeralynn Manor and my people. And yes, right here I’m talking about African American people. Truth be told, no other race of people has endured the struggles that we’ve had to endure in our fight for equality and justice in this country – a country that I happen to love. Nope! There’s no place on earth that I would rather be right now than right here in these United States of America. After all, where else could a 7-year old child look at a television screen and see a Black woman walk down the stairs at the U.S. Capital, decide that she wanted to one day grow up to be like that woman one day – and actually realize her dream? That being said, back on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, it wasn’t a coincidence that Jeralynn Manor handily defeated and unseated Judge Larry Weiman in the race for the 80th Civil District Court in Harris County, Texas. Nor was it a coincidence that she made quick-work of her well-known attorney Sharon Hemphill, the Republican who was standing in her path back on Tuesday, November 3, 2020, in the general election either. Nope!!! In case you don’t the Honorable Judge Jeralynn Manor’s pathway to become the presiding judge over the 80th Civil District Court Bench was decided before she was ever formed in her mother’s womb. All she had to do was have the courage to step boldly forward and say “YES” to God’s will, purpose and plan for her life.
LET FREEDOM RING TODAY
When you look at it, there’s a little bit of Jeralynn Manor in all of us. When Dr. King stated, “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character,” he was talking about you, me, and the Honorable Judge Jeralynn Manor. We he stated, “I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers,” he was talking about us and our children, and their children’s children. When he stated, I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together,” he was talking about all of us realizing his dream together. And when he said, “This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring," he was talking about freedom ringing for every warm-blooded American.
AUBREY R. TAYLOR COMMUNICATIONS
957 NASA PARKWAY #251
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058-3039
PHONE: (832)212-8735
CELL: (281)788-3033
"As many Americans continue to struggle for equality, let’s continue to pray that our nation’s leaders will rise up and do the right thing whereas all American citizens are concerned. What’s happening in Fort Bend in the fight between a minority homeowner, the HOA and the Fort Bend County Court System right now just isn’t right, and someone needs to do something about it. So, as we prepare to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr’s dream on Monday, January 18, 2021, let us all remember that we are all “GOD’S CHILDREN” and should all be afforded the same opportunity to pursue our own happiness just so long as it does not infringe upon the rights of our fellow Americans."
AUBREY R. TAYLOR COMMUNICATIONS
957 NASA PARKWAY #251
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058-3039
PHONE: (832)212-8735
CELL: (281)788-3033
The "I Have a Dream" speech is considered one of the pivotal moments of the Civil Rights Movement and some historians have rated it as the top American speech of the 20th Century.
Read the entire text of Dr. King's masterpiece below:
I am happy to join with you today in what will go down in history as the greatest demonstration for freedom in the history of our nation.
Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity.
But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land. So we have come here today to dramatize a shameful condition.
In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check -- a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.
It would be fatal for the nation to overlook the urgency of the moment. This sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Nineteen sixty-three is not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that the Negro needed to blow off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in America until the Negro is granted his citizenship rights. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force. The marvelous new militancy which has engulfed the Negro community must not lead us to a distrust of all white people, for many of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. They have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom. We cannot walk alone.
As we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied, as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negro's basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating "For Whites Only". We cannot be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow jail cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.
Go back to Mississippi, go back to Alabama, go back to South Carolina, go back to Georgia, go back to Louisiana, go back to the slums and ghettos of our northern cities, knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.
I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal."
I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.
I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.
I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of interposition and nullification; one day right there in Alabama, little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.
I have a dream today.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.
This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
This will be the day when all of God's children will be able to sing with a new meaning, "My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring."
And if America is to be a great nation this must become true. So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania!
Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado!
Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California!
But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia!
Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee!
Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring.
And when this happens, when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"
THE BRAINS
I’m the President/CEO of Aubrey R. Taylor Communications, the publisher of Houston Business Connections Newspaper©. In case you don’t know, I have 30-years of experience in marketing, branding, investigative reporting, public relations, opposition research, and political consulting. I’ve assisted in branding Republican and Democratic candidates in statewide elections and local municipalities throughout the State of Texas. Over the years, I’ve also assisted in branding and marketing (through my various publications) such corporations and institutions as Shell Oil, The City of Houston, Texas A&M University, Texas Southern University, Prairie View A&M University, Chevron, Waste Management, Nationwide Insurance, Momentum Jaguar/BMW, Channel 11, Channel 13, State Farm Insurance, and Allstate Insurance to name a few.
EXPERIENCED REPORTER
I would have you to know that not everyone who has been accused of a crime or enters a guilty plea in connection with a crime is guilty of the crime they're accused of committing. Neither is everyone who goes to trial to fight charges that are leveled against them and get's convicted are guilty. Look, over the years, some very bad things have happened to people of color in our criminal justice system. So to this end, please understand, that during my career, I’ve gone into the Harris County Jail and Texas prisons on numerous occasions (on secret assignments) working in conjunction with the owner of one of the largest locally owned private security, and investigations firms. The man who was funding my investigations back then (who mysteriously died) also was the godfather of one of my sons, and the backer of one of my publications. That being said, I can straight-faced assure you that I’ve seen some of the injustices that are occurring in the Texas penal system up close and personal. While on the inside, I interviewed (face-to-face) some of the hardest criminals you can imagine for my research. I also discovered first-hand that many of the people who should be locked up are walking around free, and not all of those who are locked behind bars are guilty of the crimes that they, in some cases pleaded guilty to – for whatever reason. So, let me assure you that I know a criminal when I see one. And we have a handful of local elected officials who are straight-criminals and must be stopped!!!
PEOPLE OVER POLITICS
Based on my direct observations over the years, I can attest to the fact that our current criminal justice system is more about “HAVE’S AND HAVE NOT’S” to a greater degree than most people realize. That being said, sure, in some cases, the skin color of the person being accused of a crime plays a role in who gets indicted and eventually convicted of crimes and those who go free. However, at the end of the day, from observing the system from the inside, and out; having money, good legal representation and access to influential people are unfortunately key determining factors when it comes to who will spend the rest of their life walking around with an “X” on their back and who doesn’t. So, to this end, we must endeavor to change our criminal justice system and political landscape by “TAKING POLITICS OUT” of the way our judges are selected in the Lone Star State – that’s very important to me!
AUBREY R. TAYLOR COMMUNICATIONS
957 NASA PARKWAY #251
HOUSTON, TEXAS 77058-3039
PHONE: (832)212-8735
CELL: (281)788-3033
