Say hello to Imelme Umana, the first Black woman to be elected as president of one of the most prestigious legal journals in the nation, the Harvard Law Review. In its 130-year-history, the Harvard Law review has only had one other Black president. Can you guess who? We’ll give you a hint: He is the 44th U.S. President. That’s right, it’s Barack Obama, who became the first Black man to become president of the Harvard Law Review 18 years before he was elected as the first African American President of the United States.
Congrats to Imelme Umana, HLS ’18, on her selection as President of the Harvard Law Review. 1st black woman to serve as President. #Herstory pic.twitter.com/liqu40K4Va
advertisement— Harvard BLSA (@HarvardBLSA) January 30, 2017
While Umana, who is a doctorate candidate at Harvard Law School, may not be making a run for the oval office (yet) she’s already blazing quite a trail on Harvard’s campus. She has served as chair of the Community Action Committee, a board member of the Harvard Model Congress Boston, and a research assistant at the school’s Hiphop Archive at the Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.
As stated on Harvard’s Department of African American Studies’ webpage: “(Umana) is most interested in the intersection between government and African American studies, hoping to explore how stereotypes of Black women are reproduced and reinforced in American Political discourse.”
Congratulations, Imelme! Today, the first Black woman president of the Harvard Law Review. Tomorrow, maybe the first Black woman President of the United States!