A New Perspective on the Constitution

Cody Clark, assistant editor

To celebrate Constitution Day, PVCC’s One Book group invited Adeola Ogunkeyede and Jennifer Kwon to host a discussion about the Constitution. Kwon was unable to make it to the event as she needed to represent a client at the last minute. It was left to Ogunkeyede to discuss how she and her colleague use the Constitution and how it could be improved. 

Ogunkeyede earned her B.A. from Duke University in 2003 and her J.D. from Tulane University Law School in 2008. During her time at Tulane, she was a member of the Criminal Law Clinic, president of the Public Interest Law Foundation, and coordinator of the Street Law Program. Upon graduating from Tulane, she received several awards commending her work with the university and community. 

At the beginning of the brief lecture, Ogunkeyede said, “I have a vantage point on the Constitution from the vantage point of a practitioner.”

During her time as a public defender and as the Legal Director of the Civil Rights and Racial Justice Program at the Legal Aid Justice Center (LAJC), Ogunkeyede saw the Constitution used by all parties involved in her cases.

It was just as much a tool of justice as it was a tool for oppression. It was said that the Constitution makes many promises of quality. However, in its current form it still needs improvement according to Ogunkeyede

The Constitution is not the only aspect of America that needs to evolve. American society and its values must also change before we will see improvement.

Ogunkeyede used the Statue of Liberty as an example. While in public education the common teaching about the statue is that it was a welcoming beacon of hope for immigrants coming to the United States. While in reality there are many Americans who believe the statue of liberty is “ Teaching lessons about America that can be applied in their own countries,” said Ogunkeyede. 

Another example used by Ogunkeyede was the current immigration policy at the Mexican border where children and adults are separated. Ogunkeyede related this process to slavery and how families of slaves were broken up. 

Constitution Day was the first of many One Book collaborations events. Information on upcoming events can be found at https://libguides.pvcc.edu/thenewjimcrow/events.