Nekima Levy-Pounds

Nekima Levy-Pounds
Levy-Pounds in 2015 at a press conference regarding the death of Jamar Clark
President of the Minneapolis NAACP
Incumbent
Assumed office 2015
Preceded by	Jerry McAfee
Personal details
Born	(1976-06-27) June 27, 1976 Jackson, Mississippi
Nationality	American
Children	Five
Residence	Brooklyn Park, Minnesota
Alma mater	U. of Illinois College of Law (J.D.) U. of Southern California (BA)
Occupation	Lawyer, professor, writer, activist, preacher
Website	Official website

Nekima Valdez Levy-Pounds (born June 27, 1976) is an American lawyer, professor, activist, writer, and preacher. She was elected in 2015 to be the president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP and also serves on and has founded a variety of organizations that focus on issues of racial equality and disparity in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul area. She is an associate professor of law at the University of St. Thomas in Minneapolis where she began teaching in 2003, a position she announced an intention to vacate at the end of July 2016. She writes for several local publications including the Star Tribune and MinnPost and has been recognized for her legal work, including being named 2015 Attorney of the Year by Minnesota Lawyer.

Early life

Nekima Valdez Levy-Pounds was born June 27, 1976, the eldest sister of five. She moved to Los Angeles after spending the first eight years of her life in Jackson, Mississippi, where she was born, and later attended school in Massachusetts. She received her BA from the University of Southern California and her J.D. from the University of Illinois College of Law. Levy-Pounds lived in Los Angeles until 2003 when she moved to Minnesota.

Teaching and activism

Levy-Pounds began teaching law as an associate professor at the University of St. Thomas (UST) in Minneapolis in 2003. In her research, she has focused on the War on Drugs, incarceration, mandatory sentencing, and sentencing guidelines, primarily as they affect women and children of color, but also young black men. In 2006, Levy-Pounds founded the Community Justice Project (CJP), a partnership between UST's School of Law and the Saint Paul chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). The CJP allows law students interested in working with underserved communities to gain experience through academic writing, fora, and interaction with local governments and communities.

Levy-Pounds cofounded Brotherhood Inc., an organization dedicated to helping young African American men stay away from gang activity and prison. Using what Levy-Pounds describes as "a proven holistic approach to community building that employs culturally sensitive social services, educational opportunities, and on-site employment", Brotherhood began by selling a blend of coffee, Brotherhood Brew, and currently has plans to open a coffee shop in Saint Paul. She chairs the Minnesota State Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights and Everybody In, a nonprofit with the goal of closing race-based employment gaps in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul area. As a writer, Levy-Pounds has been published in the Twin Cities Daily Planet, MinnPost, and the Star Tribune. Once every two months, she preaches at Minneapolis's First Covenant Church.

In December 2014, Levy-Pounds participated in a Black Lives Matter protest of police brutality at the Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota. She and ten other protesters were charged by the City of Bloomington with disorderly conduct and trespass which carry a penalty of a fine up to $8,000 and a prison sentence of up to two years. Levy-Pounds, who had in 2014 participated in anti-police brutality protests in Ferguson, Missouri, characterized herself as "a defender of the law and a protector of the law [and] a protector of my people", and the actions of the City of Bloomington as "prosecutorial overreach and misuse of taxpayers' dollars." Restitution charges for $40,000 against the protesters were later withdrawn by the City and in November 2015, a Hennepin County judge dismissed the charges against Levy-Pounds and the ten others charged by Bloomington.

Levy-Pounds has garnered several accolades including being named one of Lawyers of Color's "50 Under 50", Minnesota Lawyer's Attorney of the Year in 2015, and receiving the Hennepin County Bar Association's Diversity Award.

Minneapolis NAACP presidency

Levy-Pounds marching in 2015

Jerry McAfee served as president of the Minneapolis chapter of the NAACP until 2015, at which point Levy-Pounds decided to run. She won the election unopposed on the ballot but faced criticism from McAfee who contended that she was too focused on issues of police brutality to the neglect of concerns such as crime perpetrated against African Americans by African Americans. Levy-Pounds has stated that she hopes to increase youth engagement with the NAACP during her term with the organization. She has been critical of racial disparities in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul region, citing them as some of the nation's worst.

In November 2015, following the shooting death of Jamar Clark at the hands of Minneapolis police officers, Levy-Pounds was involved in a human blockade of Interstate 94. Of the approximately 40 protesters, Levy-Pounds was among the first arrested for the action. MinnPost noted that she served as a leader in the subsequent protests against Clark's killing in an article that highlighted Levy-Pounds's savvy in using social media as a tool to encourage local and national media to report on the death and demonstrations.

Levy-Pounds announced in May 2016 that she intends to exit her professorship with UST at the end of July and devote herself full-time to addressing issues of economic and racial justice.

Personal life

Levy-Pounds resides in Brooklyn Park, Minnesota. She has a husband and five children, of whom two are adopted.

External links

• Official website
• Levy-Pounds's Star Tribune columns