“EVERY MAN HAS HIS DAY IN COURT” PROVERBS, SAYINGS, AND PROVERBIAL EXPRESSIONS OF THURGOOD MARSHALL

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Published: Jul 25, 2025
DOI: https://doi.org/10.29162/pv.42.1.1027
Issue
Vol. 42 No. 1 (2025): Proverbium
228-266
Copyright (c) 2025 Author(s)

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Creative Commons License

Author Biography

Raymond M. Summerville

Department of English: Literature, Teaching, Pre-Law, and

Creative & Professional Writing

Fayetteville State University

1200 Murchison Road

Fayetteville, North Carolina

USA

Main Article Content

Raymond M. Summerville
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2615-5636

Abstract

This essay explores some of the proverbs, sayings, and proverbial expressions used by Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court Justice (1967). It argues that Marshall’s proverbial language use conveys several aspects of his worldview including his philosophy concerning race, class, and social justice in American society. The essay also aims to illustrate ways that Marshall’s multifaceted proverbial language use demonstrates the sound knowledge he possessed in the area of legal studies and the exceptional talent he possessed in the areas of rhetoric and deliberation. Furthermore, the essay reveals some of the ways Marshall used proverbial language to connect with other people as he incorporated various proverbs and phrases into his speech which would help make legal language more accessible to common folk (especially the people he would represent as an NAACP and LDF attorney) while also allowing him to capitalize on opportune rhetorical moments in the courtroom. The essay utilizes several Marshall biographies, interviews, and legal documents as source material. It also incorporates the scholarship of other paremiologists such as Wolfgang Mieder, Anna T. Litovkina, Sanda Eretescu Golopentia, Harvey Sack, and others to address issues concerning: categorization, definition, origin, meaning, interpretation, and context.
 

Article Details

Keywords:
Black studies, Civil Rights Movement [CRM], folklore, human rights, proverbs, paremiology
How to Cite
Summerville, R. M. “‘EVERY MAN HAS HIS DAY IN COURT’: PROVERBS, SAYINGS, AND PROVERBIAL EXPRESSIONS OF THURGOOD MARSHALL”. Proverbium - Yearbook, vol. 42, no. 1, July 2025, pp. 228-266, doi:10.29162/pv.42.1.1027.

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