November 2nd marks the anniversary of The Color of Excellence (COE)® officially launching. What started as idea on the heels of being a Black law student, morphed into a mid-level attorney deciding to leap and follow the vision that rested in her heart and mind for years. Sometimes, you have to step out on faith despite the odds and trust the process. It was not easy but it was, and still is, a risk worth taking.

In June of 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Trump Administration could end temporary protected status (TPS) for the 330,000 Haitians who fled violence in their home country. Many of them are still navigating the long-term effects and trauma of the catastrophic earthquake that struck Haiti almost seventeen years ago. Legal protected status officially ended for Haitians on July 27, 2026. The official explanation from the Department of Homeland Security is  that Haiti no longer meets the statutory requirements for TPS and that conditions in Haiti had vastly improved. Those of us born at night rather than last night know that is a fallacy. We also know what this policy shift is really about.

Black boys deserve protection from the legal system. When the system that is supposed  to protect and serve our children fails them and chooses condemnation instead of  impartially , we are left asking- Who does the law serve? When we say Black boys deserve protection from the legal system, we mean it in two significant ways.

When the American Bar Association (ABA)’s Law School Accreditation Council voted 10–6 to repeal Standard 206, a long-term requirement of the law school accreditation process that required schools to show they were taking tangible steps to achieve diversity and inclusion in their student body, faculty, and staff.

This letter was published initially on February 9, 2023 for the Color of Excellence Magazine. The version below is updated, as of June 2023, to be published on the COE blog. Five months have passed and Eyvin Hernandez continues to languish wrongfully behind bars, thousands of miles away from his family, friends, and community.