As she looks forward to celebrating alongside family, friends, and classmates at the LSU Law Class of 2024 Commencement on May 18, Mekkah Husamadeen has been busily preparing for the big day by selecting invitations, sitting for her composite photo, and ordering her gown, tam, and hood. But she has already received one very special and unique piece of regalia.
Embroidered with her name, “Ghana School of Law,” and the national flag of the West African country, the stole was gifted to Husamadeen by administrators and students at the law school following a weeklong service trip to Ghana by members of the National Black Law Students Association (NBLSA). Husamadeen was elected to serve as NBLSA Attorney General last summer and was among five members of the NBLSA Executive Board selected for the expedition, which took place just after the first of the year.
“The aim of the trip was two-fold,” explained Husamadeen, an active member and former president of the Black Law Students Association at LSU Law, which is one of roughly 200 NBLSA chapters worldwide. “One was to get a comprehensive understanding of the Ghana legal system and the other was to make connections with the Ghana School of Law and its students so we can begin exploring partnerships in the future.”
The sojourn was as historic for Husamadeen as it was for NBLSA. She had never travelled outside of North America. The nonprofit had never organized a service mission to Ghana. The trip, which took place Jan. 2-8, marked just the third international mission by NBLSA since 2007 as part of its C.A.R.E.S. initiative—which stands for “Contributing through Advocacy, Resources, Education, and Service”—and the first such trip since the pandemic. C.A.R.E.S. journeys were previously taken to Haiti and Nigeria, which along with Ghana are among a handful of foreign countries with NBLSA chapters.
“Service is at the heart of our mission as Louisiana’s flagship law school, and I could not be prouder of Mekkah for being selected for this important international service mission and for being such a wonderful representative the LSU Paul M. Hebert Law Center on the global stage,” LSU Law Dean Alena Allen said. “I have every confidence that Mekkah will continue to make a positive impact on the world and make us proud as an LSU Law alumna following her graduation this spring. I can’t wait to see where her many talents take her.”
Along with LSU Law, the NBLSA delegation included student representatives from Howard Law School, Georgetown Law School, Western New England Law School, and Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Husamadeen said the American law students were floored by the welcome the Ghana School of Law and its Students’ Representative Council had planned for them upon their arrival in Ghana’s capitol city of Accra on Jan. 2.
“They literally rolled out a red carpet for us and threw us a party!” said the Cleveland, Ohio native who earned her undergraduate degree at Howard University. “We spent the evening getting to know the students and administrators from the Ghana School of Law over an amazing dinner of traditional dishes and dancing. All the food in Ghana is incredible—it’s a lot like Louisiana that way—and so is the company.”
The next morning, the delegation visited the Ghana School of Law, which was formed a year after the country gained its independence from Great Britain in 1957. There, they met with Dean Raymond Atuguba and Director of Legal Education Barima Yaw Kodie Oppong to get a better understanding of the Ghana legal system and discuss plans for greater collaboration between NBLSA and the local chapter. As the only member of the delegation who is studying both civil and common law at LSU Law, Husamadeen said she especially enjoyed discussing the similarities and differences between the American legal system and Ghana’s, which melds British Common Law with Ghanian customary traditions.
“It was exciting to connect what I was learning about the Ghana legal system with what I’ve learned about international law while earning my Graduate Diploma in Comparative Law in addition to my Juris Doctor at LSU Law,” she said.
The NBLSA delegation was also originally scheduled to meet with Ghana President Nana Akufo-Addo and Attorney General Godfred Yeboah Dame during their visit, but those plans were thwarted when they were greeted instead by a four-hour traffic jam en route to meeting.
“We’re still trying to coordinate a meeting with them by Zoom and we’re hopeful it will still take place,” Husamadeen added.
The delegation encountered the traffic jam while travelling back to Accra from Mepe, a village located about 60 miles northeast of Ghana’s capitol. They spent a day in the village, donating essential supplies and assisting victims of the Akosombo Dam Spillage Flood in October 2023 that flattened the village and displaced more than 35,000.
“Mepe was one of the villages hit the hardest by the flooding, and it was incredible to see the resilience of the people who had suffered so much,” Husamadeen said. “The village leader asked my group and me to advocate for his people, and that’s been one of the things we’ve been doing since returning back to the United States.”
When the American law students weren’t learning about Ghanian law or volunteering, they spent time exploring Ghana’s capitol city and enjoying the rich culture, cuisine, and experiences in Accra. They browsed bustling markets and visited the vast Kakum National Park, where they ventured across the Canopy Walk that’s suspended 130 feet above the tropical forest. They also toured the Cape Coast Castle, one of about 40 sprawling commercial forts built by European traders along the West African coast that were used in the Atlantic slave trade.
“That was where things got very deep and intense,” Husamadeen recalled. “I think I’m still trying to process that experience.”
On the delegation’s final evening in Accra, members of the Ghana School of Law Students’ Representative Council took the group out for a night on the town to take in Ghanian culture one last time before their return to the U.S. Before departing, the council presented Husamadeen and her colleagues on the NBLSA delegation with special medals and stoles reading “Ghana School of Law” to commemorate the visit.
The NBLSA delegation has kept in contact with their Ghanaian friends since returning to the U.S. and got the chance to reconnect with some of them in person at the NBLSA National Convention, which was held in Houston in March. Formed in 1968, NBLSA is the nation’s largest student-run nonprofit organization, with more than 6,000 members.
“We went to Ghana to gain a deep and comprehensive understanding of the Ghanian legal system while connecting with the black law students there and reminding them that our organization is for them, too. In the process, we discovered a community to advocate for and made great friends along the way,” said Husamadeen, who is set to launch her legal career in Washington, D.C. with Van Ness Feldman following her graduation in May. “I’ve come back more thankful and filled with an even greater purpose.”
Original source can be found here.