Judge U.W. Clemon was appointed by then-President Jimmy Carter as the first Black federal judge in the history of the state with unanimous approval from the U.S. Senate. (Sym Posey, The Birmingham Times)
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By Barnett Wright
The Birmingham Times
The City of Birmingham on Friday paid tribute to retired Judge U.W. Clemon during its annual “AWAKEN 2024” at the Birmingham Museum of Art.
“I’m deeply honored. I feel like the proverbial prophet who is honored in his hometown, that seldom happens,” Clemon told The Birmingham Times. “I am eternally grateful to the mayor and the city for this great honor.”
The honor comes less than two weeks before one of the most consequential U.S. Presidential elections in recent memory. Clemon has always been a proponent on the importance of voting.
“The AWAKEN program properly recognizes that the vote is the crown jewel in democracy,” Clemon said. “Without the vote we have no voice. It’s been a struggle throughout our existence … it’s been a struggle to gain the vote and to protect it. But they are struggles well worth fighting because without the vote we have no hope.”
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Clemon also took part in a panel discussion that included Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin; U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell; Alabama State Director for Woke Vote, Ja’Nise Gentry and Moderator, Anchor CBS 42, Sherri Jackson
“Judge U.W. Clemon has devoted his life to justice. Not only does he have a brilliant legal mind, but he has a heart for the disenfranchised,” Woodfin said in a statement. “Our community is better because of the battles he bravely fought. We are proud to honor him.”
Clemon has represented Black plaintiffs in major civil rights litigation and was one of the two African Americans elected to the Alabama State Senate since Reconstruction. In 1980, he was appointed by then-President Jimmy Carter as the first Black federal judge in the history of the state with unanimous approval from the U.S. Senate.
