Yashiba ‘Red’ Blanchard: How a Voice for the Voiceless Became an Elected Probate Court Judge in Jefferson County, Alabama

By Barnett Wright | The Birmingham Times Yashiba “Red” Blanchard likes to say she’s a “voice for the voiceless.” And that’s not a slogan she began when campaigning for Jefferson County Probate Court Judge Place 1. It goes back to eighth-grade in Birmingham City Schools, she said. “I don’t like it when people can’t express themselves when they are mistreated,” she told The Birmingham Times. “That’s something I decided to do [speak for others] on the debate team in the 8th grade in Washington Elementary. I would have classmates that would get picked on and I would take up for them … I’m for the person who can’t speak for themselves.” Blanchard, 50, can now be a voice for tens of thousands. According to unofficial results from Tuesday’s election with 98 percent of the vote counted, Blanchard received 143,971 votes or 52.22 percent to defeat Republican John Amari who received 131,502 votes or 47.70 percent for the Probate Court Place 1 seat making her the first, along with fellow attorney and sorority sister Jameria Moore, Place 2, Black females elected to Probate Court in Jefferson County. Probate courts have jurisdiction over matters dealing with wills, estates, real property, mental illness,...