Kaitlyn Hughes | news editor

As Judge Nicola Henry-Taylor accepted the Homer S. Brown Drum Major for Justice Award she remembered that the late Martin Luther King Jr. said that the human desire to lead must be directed toward service, justice and peace.

“He told us that true greatness, he always reminded us, is measured not in title or authority. It is measured in one’s commitment to serve,” she said. “We have to remember that and continue even in challenging times.”

This is something she hopes to carry with her in her work as a Drum Major honoree.

Henry-Taylor was awarded at the Allegheny County Bar Association’s 27th annual prayer breakfast, held in honor of King on Monday at Mount Ararat Baptist Church in Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood.

The award is given out annually to someone who is committed to King’s values of diversity and equity in their work, said Peter McCall, chair of the Homer S. Brown Division.

Henry-Taylor was elected to the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas in 2021. Prior to joining the bench, she earned her bachelor’s degree at Slippery Rock University and attended law school at Duquesne before graduating in 1996.

She also served as the Diversity Director at the Thomas R. Kline School of Law, and as the president of the Duquesne Kline Law Alumni Association, where she helped to advance the law school’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion.

In her 20-minute speech, Henry-Taylor acknowledged the significance of receiving the award as a Black woman living in the United States.

She said even during her time on the bench she has experienced moments that reminded her that women of color are sometimes perceived, evaluated and treated differently.

“The road of Black women is different than that of others. We have what’s called intersectionality. Our challenges are compounded,” she said. “Expectations are not always the same. Race is not always extended equally. Legitimacy is sometimes questioned.”

Before Henry-Taylor was elected in 2021, there were only four other Black women judges elected in Allegheny County.

The same year she was elected three other Black judges were elected including Judge Tiffany Sizemore, Judge Elliot Howsie and Judge Wrenna Watson.

“We made history, but it’s also sometimes sad when you make history because it didn’t have to take that long,” she said.

Since taking office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order dismantling federal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion programs.

Henry-Taylor said this will not stop her in advocating for minority rights.

“Things are rough. But people before me have had more difficult challenges, and they worked hard. Some people died, some people were injured, some people have suffered mental, psychological wounds. And if they did it, then I certainly can do it,” she told The Duke.

U.S. Rep. Summer Lee, D-Swissvale, who received the award in 2023, said that Henry-Taylor will help to carry out the legacy of King, but she cannot do it alone.

“Dr. King was never alone. Not at any point in the Civil Rights movement in the struggles against oppression,” Lee said. “If you’re looking around for Judge Henry-Taylor, if you’re looking for the other drum majors that are in this room or if you’re looking so far back to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., look inside yourself. Look to your own community. Look to your own neighbors. Remember that our faith, our liberation is tied together.

‘The legacy of Dr. King is more important than ever’

Before Henry-Taylor received the award on Monday, more than 100 people gathered in the Mount Ararat Baptist Church’s gymnasium for a celebratory breakfast.

For some, like the Duquesne men’s basketball team, this is an annual tradition. Head Coach Dru Joyce III said it is important for members of the team to show their support for the community every year.

He said the breakfast is a reminder of what King fought for.

“If you don’t continue to carry on and push forward … That’s how legacies die,” Joyce said.

Members of the Duquesne community made their way from the Bluff to the East Hills to join in on the festivities including Senior Vice President for Student Life Leanna Fenneberg and Provost David Dausey, who will be the next president of the university.

Dausey said it is important for members of the Duquesne community to participate in events honoring King because it gives them the space to reflect on the Civil Rights movement and how they can collaborate together in the future. He said that Duquesne’s annual MLK Unity Walk, which celebrates the vision of King through a series of events, also allows students to remember his fight for social justice.

“I think it’s the adage that those who don’t remember history will let it repeat is important,” he said.

Samiya Henry, Student Government Association vice president for mission and community, came to the King’s day breakfast for the first time. But she has always enjoyed the tradition of Unity Week at Duquesne because of how the community comes together.

“It opens your eyes and ears to what’s going on around you,” Henry said. “We are all put on this earth for our own separate reasons. It doesn’t matter what we look like.”

Local officials such as Pittsburgh City Councilwoman Barbara Warwick and Allegheny County Councilperson, At-Large, Bethany Hallam were in attendance.

Warwick said that it is important to remember King’s legacy of civil rights in Pittsburgh, which has been historically segregated through redlining and gentrification.

She said that it is important for her to attend events like these in a time where the U.S. is moving toward “hate and division.”

“I think in this moment in American history the legacy of Dr. King is more important than ever,” Warwick said.

Kaitlyn Hughes can be reached at hughesk10@duq.edu