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50 Years of Firsts: The Untold Stories of Minnesota’s Black Legal Pioneers


Jeff Hassan graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1973 and entered the University of Minnesota Law School that same year. In 1973, there were only twelve Black lawyers practicing in Minnesota, none of whom he knew. As a retired attorney with a storied career that began with founding his own firm, Jeff & Reed, in 1985, he never imagined that telling the stories of his colleagues would become his next calling. But in the aftermath of the George Floyd's murder and the historic Derek Chauvin trial, Jeff was moved by a sense of urgency.
Jeff Hassan graduated from Macalester College in St. Paul, Minnesota, in 1973 and entered the University of Minnesota Law School that same year. In 1973, there were only twelve Black lawyers practicing in Minnesota, none of whom he knew. As a retired attorney with a storied career that began with founding his own firm, Jeff & Reed, in 1985, he never imagined that telling the stories of his colleagues would become his next calling. But in the aftermath of the George Floyd's murder and the historic Derek Chauvin trial, Jeff was moved by a sense of urgency.

A Turning Point in American History


When Jeff Hassan sat down to write The Black Lawyer in Minnesota he didn’t set out to become an author.


“It wasn’t so much me writing the book,” Jeff recalls. “My thought was somebody needs to write a book.”


Eventually, he realized that someone would be him.


“In my mind, history was something that happened long, but as I was writing the book and realizing that most of these folks are the first Black people in history to do what they did – I realized that we were really witnessing history.”


The Chauvin murder trial marked a pivotal moment in American legal and racial justice history. According to Jeff, it was a culmination of decades of injustice and a long-overdue moment of accountability. Jeff spent years suing the Minneapolis Police Department for excessive force, and understood the legal and systemic obstacles Black attorneys and clients faced.


“No white police officer had ever been found guilty of killing a Black person in Minnesota before Chauvin,” Jeff says. “That conviction only happened because Keith Ellison took over the case, and Jerry Blackwell prosecuted it.”


Jeff details how the original prosecution, left in the hands of the Hennepin County Attorney’s Office, was bound to fall victim to a “Blue Wall” of silence—a systemic conflict of interest where prosecutors rely on police testimony for most of their cases, making it nearly impossible to fairly try a cop.


“What made this case different is that a number of legislators in Minnesota contacted the governor and said, ‘Governor Walz, we don't have confidence that the Hennepin County Attorney is going to be able to prosecute this case, so we would like you to take it from the Hennepin County Attorney and give it to Attorney General Keith Ellison.’”


That was the turning point.


The Power of Representation


Jeff’s book is not a traditional memoir or legal analysis—it’s an anthology of stories, each chapter focusing on a different trailblazing Black lawyer who made history in Minnesota. These aren’t just legal resumes; they are deeply personal narratives of struggle, resilience, and legacy. You meet figures like:

Alan Page, former NFL star turned Minnesota’s first Black Supreme Court Justice.
Alan Page, former NFL star turned Minnesota’s first Black Supreme Court Justice.

















Natalie Hudson, Minnesota's first Black Chief Justice.
Natalie Hudson, Minnesota's first Black Chief Justice.

















B. Todd Jones, the first Black U.S. Attorney for Minnesota and former ATF director.
B. Todd Jones, the first Black U.S. Attorney for Minnesota and former ATF director.


















Wilhemenia Wright, the only jurist in Minnesota's history to be state district court judge, appellate court judge and state supreme court justice
Wilhemenia Wright, the only jurist in Minnesota's history to be state district court judge, appellate court judge and state supreme court justice


















From Jim Crow to the Bench


Their stories are set against the backdrop of Jim Crow laws, redlined neighborhoods, and systemic exclusion from power, both legal and political.


“Most of these folks either came up in the Jim Crow South or in segregated northern neighborhoods. This book is a 50-year retrospective of how far we’ve come and how far we still have to go,” Jeff says. Through hours of interviews, her pulled back the curtain on the human stories behind these legal titans.


“These are stories people have never heard,” Jeff says. “In almost every interview, someone said, ‘I’ve never told this to anyone before.’ If we didn’t get these stories down now, they’d go to the grave untold.”

Laying the Foundation


Though the book captures the contributions of about 25 legal professionals, Jeff is clear that this is just the beginning. He acknowledges that many deserving lawyers weren’t featured, and hopes that future writers will continue the work.


“I had to choose who to interview based on time and resources. But this book is just volume one—just the start of what needs to be a larger archive.”


Ultimately, Jeff’s goal isn't about bestseller lists or book tours: it’s about truth, memory, and legacy.


"The primary purpose was not so much to sell books, selling the books is just a vehicle for getting the story out there," says Jeff. "I want to publicize the story about Black lawyers in Minnesota because it's not just a Minnesota story."


From Keith Ellison's historic rise as the first Muslim congressman to B. Todd Jones’s national role as the NFL’s conduct czar after the Ray Rice incident, Minnesota’s Black lawyers have shaped the nation.


You can purchase 'The Black Lawyer in Minnesota' at on Jeff's website, www.hassanesq.com 


 
 
 
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