I doubt that any of these black professionals are stellar athletes who can slam-dunk a basketball or belt a home run out of the ball park. None has gained 2,000 yards in an NFL season. None has starred in a sitcom. Rather, they are admired for their intelligence.
Cochran, Douglas and Darden are among a growing number of black professionals capable of using their minds and mouths in public forums. Minorities are seldom seen in such vital and visible dramas viewed by literally millions of people.
But what makes their current roles so significant is that their outfront roles give lie to the negative stereotyping of African Americans so often seen on television.
Young blacks would do well to take note of these men and to visit courtrooms in their communities where black attorneys - male and female - represent individuals and institutions in complex legal cases.
Some of the finest black lawyers and judges have practiced their trade with skill, dexterity and zeal right here in Philadelphia.
Few judges have earned greater respect than Judge Juanita Kidd Stout, the first black woman to serve on Pennsylvania's Supreme Court, or federal appeals court judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr., now writing his memoirs. Andre Dennis recently served as chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association.
There are thousands of African American lawyers in the U.S. Others are being produced every year. No longer is it necessary for them to seek careers in sports, teaching or the ministry, professions to which blacks were once confined.
Doors have been flung wide open. Today, African Americans - if they are prepared - can vie for jobs in nearly every profession. The playing field is still not even, but those who are determined to make it can do so. Today's youngsters have many role models to emulate.
