ESPER hosts US postage stamp dedication for Judge Constance Baker Motley 

By Sandra Long Weaver NEWARK, NJ — The 47th stamp in the United States Postal Service Black Heritage Collection was unveiled during a special ceremony sponsored by the New Jersey chapter of the Ebony Society of Philatelic Events and Reflections (ESPER) on March 26. The forever stamp of Constance Baker Motley, who was the first African American female federal judge, was designed by artist Charley Palmer. It was unveiled nationally by the USPS in New York City in January. ESPER, a 36-year-old Black organization whose members collect stamps of all varieties, wanted to do something special to honor Motley was appointed by President Lyndon Baines Johnson to the U.S.District Court for the Southern District of New York. During her career, she worked on 60 cases that went before the Supreme Court. She was the first African American woman to argue cases before the Supreme Court and won nine of the 10 cases. Motley also attended Fisk University for one year but didn’t return after that year because of the racism she faced in the South. She didn’t understand why she had to ride in a segregated train car to get to Nashville. She continued school at New York University. According...