Mound City Bar Association

The First Black Bar Association West of the Mississippi

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5143 Thousand Residents of STL County
5,000 Members
319 Thousand Residents of STL City
0 Thousand African American Residents of STL city

0 Thousand African American Residents of STL County

MOUND CITY BAR ASSOCIATION

President’s Message

MCBA REMARKS

Greetings esteemed members of the bench and bar, family, friends and supporters of the Mound City Bar Association. I am humbled and honored to serve as President of Mound City Bar for the 2024- 2025 bar year. Though this opportunity was presented to me at a time when I did not envision it, I accept this duty, responsibility and privilege in keeping with President Anthony Gray's theme during his year challenging us all to STAY READY.

I accept the torch that is being passed on to me as a means to make good on a promise I made as a recipient of the Scovel Richardson Scholarship several years ago, and that was to be a servant to the Mound City Bar Association and to uphold our mission. This is in keeping with my personal motto, "Always give back."

I attended law school as what we called at that time a "non-traditional student", having come with outside professional experience and as a wife and a mother. Though I was engaged in the Black Law Students Association and other student groups, my positioning in life deemed it necessary for me to find a community within which I could better relate and where the members identified more with my journey. I found that community in the Mound City Bar Association. I had the honor and pleasure of having a friend and mentor in the late Ronda F. Williams, and I made a promise to her that I would give to Mound City after law school and beyond.

In 2019, I unexpectedly accepted the opportunity to serve as the inaugural Director for Academic Success at the University of Missouri School of Law in Columbia. At the time, I was the sitting Vice President of Mound City Bar. My husband and I returned in 2022, and at this very occasion last year, a few very special people in this room currently reminded me that I had not completed my leadership obligation to the association because of my relocation, and that now was the time. Essentially, I was VOLUNTOLD.

After some deliberation, and consultation with my family, I determined that now is the time for me to serve, our profession, our community, and our future through Mound City Bar. This year, 2024, marks significant historic milestones which has enabled many of us to be members of the bar today. This year marks the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Topeka Board of Education ruling which legally desegregated public schools. It also marks the 60th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Freedom Summer. Locally, this year marks the 10th anniversary of the death of Michael Brown, Jr. and the unrest that placed our community at the forefront of a very ugly moment in American history. And of course, we once again find ourselves embarking upon the most critical election season of our lifetimes.

With all this playing out on the current stage in our society, I am reminded of the words of the late civil rights attorney and member of the St. Louis community, "We've still got work to do." So it is in this moment, that I am privileged to take the helm of this Association as we continue strive toward justice for all in our communities.

During this bar year, my priorities will be:

  1. Reactivating and reengaging our membership. We cannot do this critical work without you. If you are a legal professional or law student, please join or renew your membership in the Mound City Bar Association TODAY!
  2. Investing in the future of the legal profession by strengthening our relationships with local law schools, Saint Louis University and Washington University, and engaging more regularly with the law schools at Southern Illinois University- Carbondale and Mizzou.
  3. Working to identify homegrown talent attending law school in other regions, such as my own daughter who graduated from Notre Dame Law School in May and will return home as an associate with Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner. We want to ensure these students know there is a support system here waiting on them to come back home and enrich the St. Louis legal community.
  4. Tapping into our young lawyers population so that our young lawyers remain active and engaged in community initiatives and in the Bar, thereby setting an example and expectation that young laywers are equally equipped to lead and serve.

By focusing on the development of our membership at all levels and demographics, we will aid in the sustainability of our membership. This will position us to be strong in numbers and force so that when Mound City Bar is a called upon to activate in our community, we have the personnel to get the work done in the name of justice and service.

As I embark on this undertaking, I thank the following:

My husband Lathon and daughters, Jazmyn and Raevyn for the sacrifice they will make in order for me to uphold my duty to the Mound City Bar Association.

To our fierce board who answered my call to serve, I thank you for the work we will do together. I began putting folks on notice last year that I would be up next and that I would need them. I am grateful to everyone who said "we got you" and who have or will follow through by stepping up to serve on the board and the committees.

To the past presidents of MCBA on whose shoulders I stand for entrusting me with this tremendous responsibility, for passing the gavel, and for the counsel and support that I know will be forthcoming.

And lastly, thank you to all the members of MCBA and the legal community who have been part of my journey to and through the profession. It is an honor to serve in leadership and I look forward to the accomplishment of great things in the coming year.

In Solidarity and Service


Chalana M. Scales-Ferguson, Esq.