About the Author

Rawn James, Jr. is a DC-based writer and a former assistant attorney general for the District of Columbia, where he still practices law. His writing has been featured in the Washington Post, Northern Virginia Magazine, Primavera Literary Magazine, and the Adirondack Review. He is also a regular contributor to the website of the local NBC television station. He is active in Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the nation's oldest African-American fraternity, of which Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall were also members.

Reviews

"With deft portrayals of Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall and captivating accounts of the cases they were involved in, Rawn James, Jr. brings back to our attention two central figures in the nation's efforts to use constitutional law to confront and overcome our history of segregation and racism."--Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Harvard Law School"Rawn James, Jr.'s moving and gracefully written "Root and Branch" reconstructs one of the most influential collaborations in American history. With artful prose and careful scholarship, James documents how Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall--first as teacher and student, and later as trusted friends and colleagues--spearheaded the NAACP's epochal legal assault on Jim Crow."--Raymond Arsenault, author of "Freedom Riders "and "The Sound of Freedom""Very informative, serious, and easy to read."--"Booklist""A generally informative, readable account of the struggle, in Marshall's words, 'to eliminate root and branch all vestiges of racial discrimination.'"--"Kirkus Reviews""In his new book Root and Branch, Rawn James Jr...has done an outstanding job in recounting the tale...makes for compelling reading...James's book makes a valuable contribution to our collective remembrance of two extraordinary lawyers."--"The Washington Lawyer"

“With deft portrayals of Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall and captivating accounts of the cases they were involved in, Rawn James, Jr. brings back to our attention two central figures in the nation’s efforts to use constitutional law to confront and overcome our history of segregation and racism.”—Mark Tushnet, William Nelson Cromwell Professor of Law, Harvard Law School“Rawn James, Jr.’s moving and gracefully written "Root and Branch" reconstructs one of the most influential collaborations in American history.  With artful prose and careful scholarship, James documents how Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall—first as teacher and student, and later as trusted friends and colleagues—spearheaded the NAACP's epochal legal assault on Jim Crow.”—Raymond Arsenault, author of "Freedom Riders "and "The Sound of Freedom"