Houston, Texas – Law school for any student is a challenging and overwhelming experience. In recent years, there have been several law school “survival” guides that have surfaced to help students get through the rigors and demands of a professional legal education. Thus, a valid question is “Do we really need another law school survival guide, and in particular one directed specifically to African Americans?”

“Absolutely yes!” is the response of Evangeline M. Mitchell, the author of the comprehensive new guidebook The African American Law School Survival Guide: Information, Advice and Strategies to Help You Prepare for the Challenges of the Law School Experience with a powerful and insightful foreword written by the legendary founder of Critical Race Theory New York University law professor Derrick Bell.

“There are many basics regarding law school that are true across the board that many books cover - including my own. However, there are several other additional issues that many African Americans face in the law school environment that makes a tough experience even more difficult. This is the only “how to” guide that directly addresses the many issues pertinent specifically to the African American law student. Discussion of how to cope with heavy issues including racism, stereotypes, negative perceptions, low expectations, Black-on-Black concerns and so on are extremely important for Black students. These added realities that I honestly didn’t expect to confront compounded the pressures and frustrations of the grueling law school experience. I sincerely believe that this book is vital for future and incoming Black law students – and really all law students.”

Mitchell, who characterizes her law school experience as a “rite of passage” and a “necessary means to a significant end” feels that more African Americans, many of whom are the very first in their families to graduate from college and from law school, can survive the stresses of law school if they go in with the right attitude and perspective, and have a better understanding of what they are getting themselves into beforehand.

“Had I gone into law school with the knowledge and insight that I’ve shared in this guide, I believe it would have made a huge difference. I wasted a lot of precious time and emotional energy that could have been better expended on being the best law student I could be trying to navigate the terrain with no roadmap. I kind of felt my way through as I went – as many new law students do - and this is neither a strategic, smart nor recommended approach for such an important, weighty, all-consuming and expensive endeavor.”

Driven by a desire to help others who come from a similar background and who she feels should not have to reinvent the wheel, she wrote this book. “I decided to write this guide while still a law student. I have to honestly confess that I went into law school very idealistic and naïve. I didn’t particularly like law school – but I knew it was something I had to get through. My really sitting down trying to understand and recount my experiences and do research regarding law school was not the most pleasant experience for me, but it was something I was willing to do because I truly felt it was my responsibility to my forefathers and foremothers and to my community. Wishing those who come behind us is really not enough. They need detailed guidance on what it will take to be successful and to know that their feeling that law school is challenging and overwhelming is something we’ve all faced.”

This thorough, groundbreaking, yet reader-friendly guide which Mitchell states was a “labor of love birthed out of my care and compassion for those who come behind me” covers everything from daily classroom preparation, studying for law school exams to networking and the law school hooding ceremony and passing the bar exam. Another greatly needed feature is her suggestions of ways to make the ideals of diversity work in the law school environment. But it goes much deeper with chapters dealing with creating a solid support system – what she believes is the secret to law school success, tips on physical, mental, and the social responsibility to the community that Black lawyers should embrace.

And Mitchell went a step further by doing something many authors and especially lawyers are afraid to do – she revealed both her successes as well as her failures believing that “one of the misguided beliefs that some first-generation law students may have is thinking that they don’t have what it takes or aren’t good enough. Some of us don’t realize that many successful people have failed before succeeding. The most important ingredient for success is to learn from those failures and to be persistent and always resolve that if you fall down to pick yourself up and dust yourself up knowing you will succeed next time as failure does not have to be final. Many successful people refuse to acknowledge that they’ve failed and this is an important teaching and growing lesson that needs to be shared but really isn’t talked about. I fiercely believe many people would have achieved certain things in life had they known what others went through and had been encouraged to keep going. You have to understand that success doesn’t come easy. There is a lot of struggle, blood, sweat and tears that one must endure before they get there. But when you overcome those obstacles, you appreciate the rewards even more.”

Furthermore, she enlisted the help of law students, law professors, lawyers and law school administrators across the country to contribute thought-provoking essays providing further insight and advice on the law school experience to readers. Mitchell hopes that it will not only help African Americans survive law school, but to “truly make the most of and the best of their law school experience.”

Books are available directly from the publisher through hopespromisepublishing@gmail.com and the PayPal® payment system. The African American Law School Survival Guide (ISBN: 0-9679303-2-4, 8.5” x 11”, 648 pages).