The Anthony Reeves Experience

  Once I became an attorney, I was surprised by the number of times people asked me if I knew about a type of returning to refer to them. Most of the time, it would either be criminal or family law. And most of the conversations usually would start out with just giving me an overview of their case just so that I can get an impression about whether they had a good case or if I could give them some feedback. I usually didn’t mind. The conversation would take a unique turn when the person would ask me if I knew anybody who handles the particular area of law they needed assistance with. Now, don’t get me wrong. I know a few attorneys here and there but the thing that always caught my attention was that they wanted a pitbull to represent them in their case. Even when I told them that most State Bar require attorneys will take your case they have to provide competent representation, there was this expectation that if I referred them to someone, they wanted me to ensure that I connect him...

In my home town of Pine Bluff, Arkansas, my grand parents had 6 children.   Of those 6 children, 4 of them were educated in a segregated school system.  The two youngest spent the first half of their education in a segregated system and the second half in an integrated system. We often focus on the high profile situations relating to integration that materialized after the U.S. Supreme Court Case “Brown v. Board of Education”.  Cases like the integration of the University of Alabama, the University of Mississippi, or the Little Rock (Ark) Central Nine. But there are countless stories of trauma and experience we don’t talk about as it relates to this experience. My Aunt Berniece (my grandmother’s sister) was the head secretary (Principal’s secretary) for the All black High School, South East High School.  However, when the schools were integrated, she was relegated to the lowest secretarial position.   She was given menial tasks to perform.  She was ridicule...

Not too long ago, I did a series of interviews where I interviewed my aunts, my uncle, and my mom about what it was like to grow up in the south during the 50s and 60s. For those of you who may not be aware, the laws of the time which segregated black people from white peoples were known as Jim Crow laws. Part of my desire to capture these untold stories from loved ones who actually lived it was to get a better appreciation of the historical traumatic reality that they had to face. One of the things that struck me when I spoke to all four of them was that they each said one particular point.  This is just how it was.  Can you wrap your mind around the reality that you had a large scale group of people who were being exposed to the most depressing and disturbing situation and it was normal for them? My generation was the first generation to actually grow up in an integrated society in terms of access to services, educational systems, and countless other systems and resources wh...

  For all of the things that I’ve done in my life, I think most people may be surprised to know that I came very close to not graduate from college. In order to graduate from my alma mater, you need to have a 2.5 overall GPA and a 2.0 in your major. Heading into the last semester of college, I was on the border for both. In other words, I had to maintain a 2.5 overall in order to ensure I graduated. That part wasn’t hard. It was a 2.0 in my major that was tough. Aside from my first semester during my freshman year, I struggled with a variety of different courses in my major. I have flashes of brilliance here and there. However, it took me until my senior year to realize that the struggles that I had was because I needed to change how I was studying. The lesson of today is not about studying. The lesson I wanna share today is the importance of having people in your life who will give you just an extra nudge to let you know to keep pushing so you can get to the finish line. Halfway t...

When I was appointed as a naval officer in 1995, my first duty station was Naval Hospital, Camp Lejeune, NC.   I had traveled to NC once for a Regional Alpha convention. I had driven through NC once on my way to NYC.  However, I had never lived there. Anyone who has traveled to a new duty station is familiar with the routine of trying to get acclimated to the environment. The military has a fairly robust systems of entities designed to help new service numbers get adjusted to the new way of life. As a young male officer, I was replacing another officer who was there and helped me get acclimated to it my job would be. I ran into quite a few senior African-American and listed officers who provide me feedback about the community. I ran into quite a few fellow black officers who also help me navigate the landscape. But the thing that I was looking for, as a member of Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity Incorporated, was my black Greek letter family. I wanted to know where other Greeks were...

  Preparing to go before a judge is not as easy as it looks. There is a lot of time and energy that goes into making sure that your case is presented in a way to can get you the outcome that you’re looking.  Unfortunately, one of the wild cards is how a judge will respond to what you’re trying to do. It’s not the judge looking to cause harm to your case. It’s just that, as an attorney, you’re preparing for all contingencies because you just don’t know which way the court may go on a particular issue. And it’s the unknown that can be very nerve-racking.  When an attorney has committed themselves to representing you, they know that it is in your best interest to be prepared for every possible scenario that may present itself. Which means, they may have to pivot on a moment's notice if a judge rules a particular way or a judge asking particular question. This can be even more nerve-racking if the judge asks a question that they did not anticipate or rules in a manner that yo...

If you’ve ever been to a stepshow, you probably were very impressed with what you were seeing. Highly choreographed routine. Sharply dressed men or women. High impact and explosive moves. All done and synchronicity. It truly is a wonderful site for those if you have never seen one However, you should be really happy that you were actually seeing the final finished product.  Because everything that went into preparing for that routine is not for the faint of heart. And when I talk about step shells, I’m not talking about the exhibition shows in a park or a party step show this done during your party. I’m talking about a competition step show were either money or bragging rights are on the line. You have no idea of the countless hours and pains that go into putting on a highly convinced well orchestrated and highly precise step shell that Hass to last anywhere from 10 to 20 minutes. And we’re talking about tweaking various routines, doing things over and over again, trying different ...