Baltimore Made Reginald F Lewis

Reginald F Lewis businessman entrepreneur attorney philanthropist Harvard Law man are just some of the descriptive words to describe his iconic figures life work was was born on December 7th of 1942 his parents grandparents uncles aunts always encouraged those to be Reginald grandmother would teach him the importance of savings even cutting out the peeling strips at the bottom of a tin cane and nail into the floor of a closet to protect his savings he was ever thinking ever planning ever vigilant or getting the job done driven like a intense loving and family was very important and Baltimore he attended the famed Paul Laurence Dunbar High School known for producing stellar athletes Lewis was no different he excelled at football at Dunbar High School and later earned a scholarship to Virginia State University my father never stopped moving forward no matter what fate threw in his way but if that was racial racial stereotypes that would try and hamper him in his business racial bias and prejudice no matter what the world through him he didn't let it stop him in 1965 the Rockefeller Foundation funded a summer program at Harvard Law School to introduce the select number of black students to legal studies Reginald lobbied for his acceptance into the program and also got in he made such an impression that Lewis was invited to attend Harvard Law School that fall the only person in the 148 years school history to be admitted before applying during his third year at Harvard Law School those discovered the direction his career would take never saw so many law-enforcement people current guns really waiting out there on the tarmac when the plane let down so in the plane landed everybody rushed off the plane including the palace and the flight attendants and now Reggie and I on the plane we said a prayer he said I'm your lawyer I will go first you know mr. Lewis did everyone who got down the ground the sheriff was reaching for me mr. Lewis stood in the way as they all know let me see your identification I was able to negotiate with the Attorney General of the state of North Carolina to allow the church to post the bond with interest-bearing securities as opposed to putting a pure cash bond the the interest the interest earned from the from the securities actually paid for the litigation for years so I was pretty proud of that and recruited to the top of New York law firm Paul Weiss Wharton garrison LLP immediately after law school Louis left to start his own firm just after two years with paul weiss rifkind wharton & garrison LLP after 15 years as a corporate attorney for his own firm louis moved to the other side of the table by creating TLC Group LP a venture capital firm he had a lot of things he had to overcome but that's why he loved that point my likes and whose don't sit down and cry life for me ain't been no crystal stair it's had tacks in it and splinters and boards torn up but all the time I've been a climate on and reaching landings and turning corners and sometimes in the dark where there ain't been no light so boy don't you turn back don't you sit down on the steps but you'll find it's kind of hard for I still go on honey I still climb it and life for me ain't been no Christmas Day you just got to keep on climbing I always say you put your spikes in your shoes and when you dig in that mountain ain't nobody going like a damn child you just keep on climbing and you just keep on going no matter what and that's what happened Louis was able to accomplish so much during his 15 years on earth his legacy lives on in many ways in Baltimore the original f Lewis school of business and law high school at Virginia State University the original F Lee Lewis School of Business and the original F Lewis Museum located in downtown Baltimore Reginald Lewis passed on January 19th 1993 though faith through early death his way his life was as full as that if someone who lived twice his age

Channel: Paul Franklin

Views: 14,626

Keywords: Iseecolorlive.tv, Baltimore Made, Reginald F. Lewis, Jermaine JerJoh Johnson, Evans W. Crayton, Paul B. Franklin, Documentary (TV Genre)

Id: QFunxcoHI70

Length: 8min 57sec (537 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 19 2015