Today begins the first of a series of blogs entitled, “From the Pew.” Today’s piece is the first half of a two-part editorial first published in The (Harvard Law) Record in November of 2005.
The writer is Amos Jones, formerly of Kentucky and now of Washington, DC.
Jones wrote the piece while a first year law student at Harvard Law School. He wrote a regular column entitled “Amos’s Sermons.” The title is understandable to those who know his journey. He hails from what is arguably the most famous and influential African American family in central Kentucky. His grandfather, long-time pastor of the historic Pleasant Green Baptist Church in Lexington, was the first person of color to be buried in the Lexington Cemetery. His uncle, the late William A. Jones, was perhaps the most distinguished African American preacher of his generation, holding forth from the 5,000 member Bethany Baptist Church of Brooklyn, New York.
Jones attended high school in Owensboro and Lexington, graduated from Emory University in Atlanta, earned a Masters degree in journalism from Columbia, and received a law degree from Harvard. Following graduation he was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to study constitutional law at the University of Melbourne. He now practices international law with the firm Bryan Cave.
Jones has been tapped to serve on the Board of Directors for the Academy of Preachers.