Legal Happenings
At Finnegan’s Black History Month Observance, a Finer Focus on Wellness
March 04, 2025
From left to right: Lynn Parker Dupree, Brian Smedley, Dayna Bowen Matthew, and Rawle Andrews Jr.
Against the backdrop of Black History Month, Finnegan, Henderson, Farabow, Garrett & Dunner, LLP convened a panel discussion on February 26 that focused on finding purpose, belonging, and well-being in today’s dynamic times.
Finnegan partner Lynn Parker Dupree, who leads the firm’s privacy practice, kicked off the event by asking the panelists to establish a structural and environmental context for the discussion.
Brian Smedley, senior fellow at the Urban Institute, began by discussing the work of Kenneth and Mamie Clark, a pair of psychologists whose “doll test” studies were cited in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. The Clarks designed a test that asked Black children about their opinions of two dolls, one white and the other Black. The study showed the inclination to assign positive traits to the white doll and negative ones to the Black doll. The Clarks concluded that racial identity and the association of negative traits with Blackness were established at an early age and perpetuated by segregation and prejudice.
Even today, Smedley said, racial inequity exists in schools, just one example of the ongoing structural challenges faced by Black students.
Meanwhile, Dayna Bowen Matthew, dean and Harold H. Greene professor of law at George Washington University Law School, talked about how events taking place in the community can negatively impact the health of others, even those who are not directly involved. She introduced the audience to the concept of “allostatic load,” which quantifies the cumulative health impacts experienced by people as a result of stress.
“My students at the George Washington University Law School began to see correlations in our rudimentary measures of allostatic load — for example, around the death of Breonna Taylor — and they were different for Black students and non-Black students,” Matthew said. “We can also see that income does not protect against elevated allostatic loads.” On the contrary, allostatic loads tended to be highest among Black men in high-stress jobs, Matthew said.
Rawle Andrews Jr., executive director of the American Psychiatric Association Foundation and current president of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, offered a number of specific actions individuals could take to improve their health and well-being. “Sleep is what my doctor tells me is the number one thing that’s killing and crippling us because we’re not getting enough of it, and we don’t know that we’re not getting enough of it,” he said.
Another issue is people’s unwillingness to step away from work. “One of the things I know about Big Law is that we have the means to get away, but we won’t give ourselves permission to go,” Andrews said.
Andrews suggested that individuals could improve their ability to deal with stress through smaller, more regular breaks from daily work. In his personal life, Andrews takes time each morning to focus on family by avoiding accessing his devices. “There is no health without mental health,” he said. “Mind, body, and brain are what psychiatry is all about.”
Returning to the discussion of structural and environmental pressures faced by Black Americans, Andrews brought up the significance of the Dred Scott decision in 1857. Referring to the notorious decision drafted by Chief Justice Roger Taney, Andrews noted, “I was never intended to be a part of the body politic, and it doesn’t matter what my forefathers accomplished … What am I supposed to think about self-worth and self-value if that’s how it is?”
The panelists agreed that preserving some hope is an important part of improving health and gathering strength to contend with ongoing challenges faced by the Black community. “I think it’s pretty remarkable that descendants of African people, who were brought over as slaves, have survived and thrived remarkably under these conditions,” Smedley said.
“So, it reminds me that there are lessons from our ancestors. There are lessons from people who have lived through incredibly difficult times,” Smedley added. “We know that these times are difficult, but 60 years ago, 70 years ago, when Ruby Bridges fought to integrate schools and other kids were facing venomous racism, folks survived and thrived … We still feel the burden of hate and resurgent intolerance. There are still things that we can do.”
