“Some in our profession are recognized for their significant contributions to the private practice of law, or to legal academia, or to public service or to the judiciary. Remarkably, over her distinguished career, the Hon. Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré has made stellar contributions not only to one or two, but to all. This fact alone merits tremendous respect. Moreover, for her many admirers, it is impossible to pay tribute to her without recognizing how seamlessly she combines intellect, integrity and grace. She has not only inspired many from a distance; she has tirelessly mentored generations of legally trained professionals, including myself. She models the highest community standards, embodying what it means "to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly”.
Westmoreland-Traoré's career was a progression of firsts in the Black legal communities.
Hon. Westmoreland-Traoré
Tamara Johnson, an award-winning Associate General Counsel - labour Relations, OPTrust, and a protégé, and alumna of Windsor Law, remarks about Westmoreland-Traoré's, "Despite holding this prestigious position [Dean of Law]...she offered to give me driving lessons", and "invited some students to her" swearing-in rite. "Throughout my career, Juanita was always there to provide me with advice. In addition to being a brilliant employment equity advocate, lawyer and judge, she is an exceptional mentor," Johnson states.
[She] has made an enormous contribution to securing and protecting human rights in Ontario and throughout Canada and internationally".
(L to R): Organizers of the Social Justice, Law and Equality conference in honour of Justice Juanita Westmoreland-Traoré: Tamara Thermitus, Adelle Blackett, Colleen Sheppard and Ashley Adams. Photo: Lysanne Larose
I liked the concept of OkCupid’s “match percentages.” The site projects the compatibility of its users, assessing it on a scale from 1 to 100. I was a high match with a seemingly large number of men—quite a few of them were in the 99 percent range. The most mathematically promising one—at 99.5 percent—turned out to be one of my existing friends from law school. But almost immediately, I began to notice peculiarities about my experience. Among my single friends, and even in the conversations I overheard between strangers in coffee shops, women using dating sites described being “overwhelmed” and “flooded” with communication. On the day I completed my profile, I received one message; four more appeared over the next two days. This trickle continued for the next year and two months, averaging two messages a day. I didn’t just wait to be noticed: I also actively messaged others.
I would take the time to read a guy’s profile and then mention common interests or things I found interesting, posing an easy question for him at the end—but I still received few responses.
Contributed by Patricia DeGuire: a founder of CABL.
10 BLawyerisH/July, 2017