The 19th News: “Born in 1960, Earls entered the world at a time when activists were working toward a new democracy, one in which Black women would have access to their full citizenship rights, just like other Americans. The push for equality shaped her career; out of law school, she practiced civil rights litigation at North Carolina’s first integrated law firm. She was later appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as deputy assistant attorney general in the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice and then served as director of the voting project at the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights.
In 2007, she founded the Southern Coalition for Social Justice (SCSJ), a group that works to advance the rights of people of color and economically disadvantaged groups. In that role, as in her previous jobs, Earls was intentional about wanting to be close to those she was representing. For her, the most important quality for a lawyer is the ability to listen.
“Even if you can identify with your client across many levels, you still need to listen to what their individual experience is. The last thing you should be doing is assuming that you know or that you understand,” Earls said.”