Welcome Home: MIP Starts the Bar Year in Rhythm

What Does “Welcome Home” Feel Like?

A group of MIP members are standing in the Bar Center Galleria. They are spaced out and dancing. — MIP members kick off the 2026-2027 bar year with a little line dancing at the Welcome Home gathering.

For members of the Minorities in the Profession Committee, it might sound like Whitney Houston, Wu-Tang Clan, Bun B, Sam Cooke, Aaliyah, Beyoncé, T.I., Migos, or a room full of lawyers debating the music and artists that defined their favorite eras.

It might taste like cookout-style food from Vi’s Kitchen, a Black-owned local restaurant in Durham — and, yes, banana pudding.

If you know, you know.

And sometimes, it looks like new and returning members finding their people, discovering new ways to contribute and realizing that committee service doesn’t have to feel like another item on an already-full professional calendar.

That’s how MIP began the 2026-2027 bar year during its first committee meeting on September 18 at the NCBA Bar Center in Cary.

Finding Our Rhythm

Introductions came with a twist: members shared their favorite musical era, genre, artist or song.

The answers moved across generations and genres, from Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” to Aaliyah’s “Try Again” and plenty in between.

And somewhere between the musical eras, we even discovered that MIP has a musician among its ranks.

But the exercise did something more important than give us a playlist. It gave members an opportunity to learn something about one another that wouldn’t appear in a LinkedIn biography or résumé, and it created connections before we started talking about committee work.

Remembering a Legal Legend

The evening also gave us an opportunity to pause and remember Professor Charles Edison Smith, whom MIP recognized as a Legal Legend of Color in 2025.

Professor Smith’s legacy offered a fitting reminder as MIP begins another year: leadership matters not simply because of what we accomplish ourselves, but because of the opportunities we create for those coming behind us.

MIP recently gathered reflections from Professor Smith’s former students, colleagues and NCCU School of Law leaders to honor his life and legacy in Opening Doors for Generations: Remembering Legal Legend Charles Edison Smith.

And throughout the evening, members were already beginning to create opportunities for one another.

Making Yourself at Home

For some, making yourself at home meant finding an unexpected connection. Nichole and Tiqeece, for example, bonded over their shared love of sports while stepping into service together as subcommittee co-chairs.

And sometimes, finding your people means discovering a connection that was there all along. Winston-Salem State University alumni found one another in the room and brought a little Ram Pride to the Bar Center.

MIP members and Winston-Salem State University alumni showing their Ram Pride.

For Shameka and Johnell, it looks like co-chairing MIP’s pre-law programming, with Johnell bringing along plenty of affinity for his alma mater, HPU.

For newer members such as Kearra Richardson, it means opportunities to step forward and help lead programs including the 1L Summer Associate Program and Summer Social.

And longtime MIP members continue to lead programs including Legal Legends of Color, Pro Bono, Minority Corporate Counsel, and the D&I Symposium, while making room for members at every stage of their professional journeys to develop, contribute and lead.

Maybe that’s why this year already feels a little different.

A group of MIP members is shown line dancing in the Bar Center Galleria. — Finding our rhythm — MIP members close out the evening with fellowship, laughter, and a few steps on the dance floor.

Come As You Are, and Find Where You Fit

One member described the evening as feeling “grounded” and “not like another work commitment.”

That’s worth protecting.

MIP doesn’t need every member to contribute in exactly the same way.

Some will chair subcommittees. Some will help build individual programs. Some will mentor. Some will make connections. Others may begin simply by showing up, listening and finding the part of the community that resonates with them.

The MIP Invitation for this year is simple:

Make yourself at home.
Find what interests you.
When you’re ready, find something meaningful to help build.

New and returning members are encouraged to explore MIP’s subcommittees and identify one, or perhaps two, areas where their interests and capacity align.

Select Your Subcommittee

Save the Date

MIP’s next committee meeting will be held November 13 at noon via Zoom.

Until then, welcome home.

The music is already playing. Stay on beat.