(upbeat music) - Coming up next on this special edition of "Arizona Horizon", it's our Martin Luther King Jr. Day show.

We'll visit with the first Black president in the history of the Arizona State Bar.

Also tonight a conversation with Pastor Warren Stewart Sr., who's instrumental in securing a statewide MLK holiday in Arizona.

And we'll meet the artist behind an exhibit that aims to redefine certain stereotypical narratives.

That's all ahead on this special edition of "Arizona Horizon".

- [Announcer] This hour of local news is made possible by contributions from the Friends of PBS.

Members of your PBS station.

Thank you.

- Good evening, and welcome to this special Martin Luther King Jr. Day edition of "Arizona Horizon".

I'm Ted Simons.

The Arizona State Bar got a new president in 2023.

He is a Tucson native and attorney who focuses on civil rights issues, and he's the first African American president in the bar's 90 year history.

We spoke to Benjamin Taylor about his new role.

Good to see you.

- Thanks, Ted, for having me.

- You betcha.

Congratulations on the, is this something you always wanted or something that you kind of found and said, "I'll take it"?

- I mean, by practicing law, I never thought that I would be president of the State Bar of Arizona, but you know, by being on the board and learning from the board, I decided to go for it, and here I am today so.

- Here you are, indeed now, I wanna get to the fact that you're the, well let's get to it right now.

First African American to be president of the state bar.

When I say that, what do you think?

- So, our State Bar of Arizona has been in existence since 1933, so a 90 year history.

So, I am the first, and hopefully I'm not the last.

So, I wanna hopefully be a trailblazer so when other people see me, they know that they can be president also.

- Do you feel like an inspiration to others?

- Hopefully, yes, I do.

I've been getting a lot of congratulations so it's been great, and a lot of work to do.

You know, I understand, even though I'm the first African American president, I represent the whole state of Arizona and our legal professionals as far as our judges and our lawyers.

- [Ted] Let's get into that.

The state bar.

First of all, what is the state bar?

- Okay, so the state bar is a group of attorneys and judges, and our main thing is access to justice and to serve and protect the public.

So we train our attorneys, we do a lot of pro bono work.

We go out there in the community to make sure that the community has access to justice.

Meaning that no matter who you are, no matter what race, no matter color, you have the ability to find a great attorney to represent you.

- That kind of answers my next question, but I'm gonna ask it anyway.

Why is a state bar necessary?

- I mean, that's a good question, Ted.

And we've been attacked by the legislature and people have seen that.

And the reason why it's necessary because people need good legal services.

People need people to be able to represent them in court, and without the state bar who can train attorneys, who can oversee attorneys and make sure that they're doing the right thing, we are there to help the community to make sure that there is access to justice so people can have a strong attorney in the courtroom.

- [Ted] Are those efforts succeeding?

- Oh, yes.

I mean, I'm gonna make sure that they succeed.

I mean, as an attorney right now one of my themes is balancing the scales of justice.

So, making sure that our members are mentally, physically prepared by lawyer wellness.

Also with the discipline system, our discipline system has been under attack and a lot of controversy, so I wanna make sure that we can look into it, have an honest and thorough look into the discipline system, so it could be looked into.

And number three, reach out to the community.

The community needs to know that we are here, there's lawyers out there who are here to help and by telling the community that we are here to help.

- So are those aspects that you see the state bar could use some improvement on?

- Of course.

I mean, not everybody's perfect and we have been doing this for many years, but as you said, I'm the first African American president, right?

And so people need to recognize that we can, need to reach out to communities, making sure that we have a diverse legal profession because our community is diverse.

And the more diverse that you have as lawyers and judges, the community can trust you better.

- I was gonna say diversity in the judicial system, diversity at the state bar, diversity at the top of the state bar.

How big a deal is that?

- It's huge.

It's huge.

I mean, you need to have people that look like the community, who represents the community, and by doing that, the community can trust you as attorneys, as judges when they walk into the courtroom.

- Talk about you being a Tucson native, U of A Law School, ASU undergraduate.

You've been all over the place here.

What attracted you to the law and when were you attracted?

- Basically, I was a finance major at Arizona State University, part of the Barrett Honors College, and by doing that, it was great, but I wanted to be able to help people and have a hands-on approach.

And my dad was a United States Air Force veteran, Vietnam veteran.

My mom was a school teacher and we've always had service in our family, and being able to serve others and serve the community has always been a goal of mine.

- Yeah, always been a goal of yours to serve the community.

We've seen you around town as an attorney for some pretty high profile cases, civil rights issues especially here, but becoming the president of the state bar, it's a little bit different here.

Did you see that in the cards?

- I mean, not all the way, but once I joined the board, I realized that the board needed, and the state bar needed a new mindset.

And I think I can bring a different mindset to it.

I understand what the people want, I understand what our lawyers want, I understand what our judges want, and sometimes you need that, a new perspective in there and that's what I'm hoping to bring to our board and our state bar.

- I was curious about that perspective, because you've been a prosecutor, you had been defense.

I mean, you've done a lot of things, law student, a whole nine yards here.

When you look at the law from these different angles, does it look the same or is it a different prism?

- I mean, the law is definitely changing and the climate is definitely changing, but we definitely need access to justice, and that's one of the main things that the state bar is here, that make sure that no matter who you are, no matter if you're rich, you're poor, no matter what race you are, that you're able to get fair justice when you walk into the courtroom.

- [Ted] Obviously you wanna improve access to justice, but has access to justice been improved somewhat over the past few years?

- I mean, there's different programs and that's what the state bar is doing.

We do a lot of pro bono legal services to the community and we partner with different organizations to make sure the community knows that there's attorneys out there.

So, even if you can't afford an attorney, we can help place you with a person who can still help you out in different organizations who can still get your legal matter resolved.

- There are also, in the past few years, been a lot of attacks on the judiciary and just folks aren't happy in a variety of ways.

- Yes.

- First of all, do they have a point?

And secondly, how do you address that issue?

- I mean, think about it.

When you go in front of a judge, if you win, you're happy, and if you lose, you're mad, right?

And that's why the state bar, a lot of times, have been attacked based upon the discipline system, but I wanna open it up to make sure that the community understands what the state bar really does and make sure that lawyers who are acting bad, of course they're gonna be disciplined, but the ones who make an honest mistake and just do something because they're trying to help their client can just get rehabilitated, you know.

Get this a slap on the wrist, they don't need to be hammered.

So, I think the community needs to understand what our discipline system really does, and what the court system does.

So, the more the community understands what lawyers do, what judges do, the safer and and more respected that the community will have.

- [Ted] You got a one year term?

True?

- Yes.

It's one year term.

- Okay, is that gonna be the big focus there?

- Yes, I mean, everything, all the things I mentioned.

You know, access to justice, going out in the community, the discipline system, lawyer wellness, making sure, 'cause we have great lawyers.

If our lawyers are sound mind and body, they'll be able to serve the community better.

- All right, Benjamin Taylor, Arizona State Bar President.

Thank you so much for joining us.

- Thank you for having me, Ted.

- You bet.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) Pastor Warren Stewart Sr. is a longtime leader at the First Institutional Baptist Church in Phoenix, and a key figure in securing the statewide Martin Luther King Jr. holiday in Arizona.

On a previous edition of "Arizona Horizon" we spoke to Pastor Stewart about how Dr. King's religious message had a powerful impact on other social justice movements.

When you think of Martin Luther King Jr. what do you think of?

- He was a Black Baptist preacher, third generation preacher, a product of the church.

- And I wanna ask you about that and focus, 'cause I think sometimes people forget the religious aspect of Martin Luther King Jr. Has that been forgotten?

- Not really, but it's the civil rights aspect, I guess overshadows, but his whole understanding of liberty and justice came not simply from the Pledge of Allegiance, but came from the Black church and the struggles for freedom.

He, as I said, his father, his grandfather, they were all preachers.

- So what would be his place, do you think, his place among religious leaders in this country?

- Oh, he was probably one of the most revolutionary religious figures that ever existed in the United States, and probably the world, because he did change the United States and the world.

- Indeed.

Did that message of his though, did it resonate even more so because it came from the pulpit?

- I believe so because he was nonviolent and his greatest strength, he talked about love more than anything else, and in the face of bitter racism, and discrimination, and hatred, he talked about love, which is, it comes out of the church.

- Do you think a secular person could have made that kind of impact?

- I don't believe so.

No, no.

I think that the gifts God has given him as a preacher, as an orator, as a reconciler, even as a modern day prophet, no, a secular person could not have done that.

- The position.

And you, you were involved in Martin Luther King Day, obviously in the holiday, and we've talked about that in the past.

I don't wanna get too deeply into it again, but you were involved.

Does the congregation, does your church's congregation, do they expect that kind of civil rights activity and attention right now from their religious leaders?

- Very much so.

We advocate what we call Jesus and justice.

So, it's not about just getting to heaven, it's about having a full and free life here on Earth, and that includes fighting against racism, injustices in any form, yeah.

- When you helped get the Martin Luther King Day holiday here in Arizona, do you think your position as a pastor helped that effort?

- Yes, very much so.

Because I was a chosen leader.

I mean, the rare fact that I was pastor First Institute Baptist Church, I became a leader simply by sitting in that spot.

- Did you find similarity?

Obviously you're not gonna compare yourself to Martin Luther King, but did you find similarities there in working for his day, his holiday?

- Well, sure there were frustrations.

There were, I had threats against my life.

There was criticism, but also there were the victories, there were the accomplishments, dealing with all kinds of people to push for the symbol of what this nation claims to stand for.

Liberty and justice for all.

- Why do you think we got to that place in the first place with the idea that we rescinding the holiday?

Why do you think we got there?

Why do you think we got past it?

- Well, people understood, the majority of the people in Arizona understood the King holiday as a Black holiday.

So, with Arizona at that time, having only about 3 to 4% African Americans, well, why do you want a holiday for just 3 or 4% of you?

We had to educate people from 1986 to 1992.

We had to move them from understanding the King holiday as a Black holiday to, as an American holiday, which represents America at its best, based on the principles in the constitution, the preamble, et cetera.

- Do you think people still consider Martin Luther King Day a Black holiday?

- No.

- You think?

- I don't believe so.

- We got past that.

- No, no, no.

I think we passed that.

- Yeah.

- Yeah.

- Martin Luther King Jr.

I mean, obviously we talked about him, a man of the pulpit, civil rights leader, an icon in many ways.

Is he such an icon now that people forget all the things that he, I mean, you know what I'm trying to say?

Has the icon?

Has the man been lost in the icon?

- Well, I don't know if it is been lost.

I understand that the younger generations, Generation Z and the Millennials do not quite understand automatically the whole civil rights movement and what King stood for.

Ironically this week, King Week, the Progressive National Baptist Convention Incorporated, what he helped to co-found is meeting in Phoenix, Arizona Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of King Week.

So, that is a great opportunity for us.

- I was gonna say, now let's go back to 1986, whenever, could you imagine something like that happening?

- They boycotted.

- Yeah.

- Arizona.

- Yes.

- In 1986 they boycotted it, but now they're coming back, what?

30 some years later.

How wonderful is that?

- There were a lot of threatened boycotts back then, and your efforts to get to Martin Luther King Day.

You obviously have led to a lot of attention and a celebration and thanks.

- Yes.

- Along with the fact 12th Street and Jefferson now has your name.

You got a street named after you.

- Yes, I do, and I'm alive (laughs).

That's the best part about it.

When I go to work, I see that name up there and I'm alive.

- What does it mean to you though?

I mean, obviously.

- Well, I mean, I'm overwhelmed that the city of Phoenix would think that the contributions I've tried to make over the last 46 years as pastor warranted such an honor, so I'm very humbled by that.

- And I must say that Dr. King has a street named after him as well, so you've just.

- Oh, virtually every city.

Every city.

- I know it's true.

- Yeah, yeah.

- But you've joined him here in Phoenix and it has to be a very rewarding experience.

- Yes, sir.

Very much, I'm blessed.

- Well, we thank you so much for joining us on this special day.

Thank you, sir.

It's good to see you again.

- It's great to see you.

Thank you Ted, for this interview.

(upbeat music) - We're here.

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- An exhibit at Modified Arts in Phoenix is ascribed as an intimate exploration into the relationship between the career of artist Antoinette Cauley and her impact on the Black community in South Phoenix.

The exhibit is titled, "I Do It For The Hood.

Pt.2".

The exhibition runs through February 10th.

We recently spoke to Antoinette Cauley about her work.

It's good to have you back.

Thanks for joining us.

- Thank you for having me.

- "I Do It For The Hood.

Pt.2" - Yes.

- What's this all about?

- So, this show is, what I'm really doing here is talking about the consequences of American slavery and colonialism on Black, brown, and Indigenous communities today.

So, I wanna raise awareness about certain issues for maybe people who aren't thinking about it.

So, it's an opportunity for people to come and sort of decolonize your mind, but it's also shining a light on the beauty and the resilience in these communities and reflecting that back to the people who show up who are from these hoods.

- How do you do that through art?

- So, I do that by intentionally painting my subjects in very powerful positions.

I also shine a light on their stories.

I bring in people's families and their heritage, and I speak to the beauty of the city.

A lot of people who live here oftentimes, maybe might not have hope, or think that they can't get out.

And I think I represent the possibilities for them through the work.

- [Ted] What kind of responses have you had so far?

- [Antoinette] Oh, I mean, people love it.

I think, you know, not just within the city, but even outside of the city.

- Yeah.

Was there something that inspired this exhibit?

What got it started?

- Oh, so the inspiration for this exhibition came, I was in Germany, so I moved to Germany a few years ago to further my career, but I was feeling a bit discouraged because I was having a hard time getting my work into museums, and I sat and just reflected and thought, who am I actually doing this for, my career?

Who am I looking to inspire?

And it's marginalized communities, it's my community back home in South Phoenix and all of Phoenix.

And so, I decided to title the show, "I Do It For The Hood" as a reminder to myself who I'm doing it for, and to the community I'm looking to impact.

- Last time we spoke with you, you were in Germany.

It was a Zoom and you were in Germany and it looked kinda dark and quiet back there.

- Yeah.

- And you came back.

- First of all, why'd you go, why'd you come back?

- I left Phoenix ultimately to expand my career and show people from my community what's possible for us through the arts or any avenue you choose to take, really.

I bounced back and forth because my community's super important to me.

I feel grounded when I'm in Phoenix and regardless of how large my career blows up, I'll always bring it back home.

- When you were in Germany and I, first of all the 20 pieces, 20 some odd pieces in this exhibit.

- [Antoinette] Yeah, it's about 25.

- Yeah, were any of them created in Germany?

- About half of them were created in Germany.

- That brings my question, I'm glad that's the case, because here's what I'm curious about.

Can you tell the difference between creating what you created, your creative mindset in Germany, and what it's like back home?

- Definitely, my entire process changed in Germany.

Not as far as the technical skills I'm using, but as far as like theories and concepts because when I moved to Germany, I was able to see an entirely different culture, society, government and how they function, and I was able to compare that to my home country and see in more depth what is actually wrong and what needs to change, so that started showing up in my work.

I was able to talk to people in Britain, in, you know, all over Europe about their experiences being Black in another country and how that's impacted them, and then tell those stories in the work.

- The pieces of art that were created in Germany are they still special?

Do they still have a place for you?

- [Antoinette] Definitely.

- Or have you moved on now that you're back home and moved away from Germany?

- [Antoinette] Well, the pieces are, any piece I do is gonna be special for sure, but the ones that I've made in Europe, they'll always be a little extra special to me because I did branch out and fly out and do sort of this impossible thing and they're memories of that.

- [Tom] Yeah, yeah.

I mean, 'cause sometimes an artist has to get away in order to see where they've been.

- [Antoinette] Totally, yeah.

- [Ted] But it also allows you, when you get back to where you have been, return, you can see things a little maybe different.

Are you planning on going somewhere else again to look back at Phoenix?

- [Antoinette] The world is mine for the taking.

So yes, I plan on going other places for sure.

- Yeah.

Your impact on the community, the relationship between you and your impact, what do you want that relationship to be?

What is that relationship?

- Oh, man.

I think that relationship is bringing hope to the hopeless, honestly, when I think about my community and where I come from, I had no access to art.

You know, I had no access to any of the things that I do today, and so I understand that I am now creating a blueprint for them to do the same, and I hope that behind me rises up a new generation of young Black artists from Phoenix who now know the moves they need to take in order to be successful.

- What are you telling them that you wish someone had told you?

- Oh, start young (laughs).

Start young, and just go for it.

Whether you're afraid, unsure, you're always gonna feel those things, so do it afraid.

- Yeah, every artist has that little person right there on their shoulder.

It says, "Stop this.

This is no good, you're no good."

Every artist has that.

- Yeah.

- Gotta get past that.

- Definitely.

Definitely.

- So, what's next for you?

Are you gonna stay in fine arts?

Are you gonna try something?

What's up with you?

- This is my lifelong career.

I've been a full-time artist for going on eight years now.

I've been living in Germany and bouncing back and forth for roughly three years, so my plan is just to expand and continue to take the city with me.

Phoenix shows up in every painting I do and I love sharing my home with the world.

So, that's where I'll be, the world.

- Yeah, and you're gonna be at Modified Arts here?

- Yes.

- How long at Modified Arts?

- So my exhibition runs from December 15th.

It opens next Friday, the opening event.

We're gonna have low riders, music, all the art.

I'll be there in person to meet people.

I'm so excited, and it runs through February 10th so you can pop in at any time to see the work.

- Alright.

Will there be "I Do It For The Hood.

Pt.3"?

- Potentially.

- Potentially?

- Tune in to find out (laughs).

- All right, Very good.

Antoinette, it's always a pleasure.

Thank you so much.

- Yeah, thank you.

(upbeat music) (upbeat music) - And that is it for now.

I'm Ted Simons.

Thank you so much for joining us on the special edition of "Arizona Horizon".

You have a great evening.

(upbeat music)