(L-R) Black Jewels Ladies Golf Association-Brooklyn (NY) Chapter members Karon Richardson, Selena James, Hon. Caudia Daniels Depeyster, Debert Cook, Jacqui Walwyn and Marlene Robinson.
The Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association made the most of Women’s History Month by hosting an evening of enlightenment on Wednesday, March 20 at the Brooklyn Bar Association. The excellently organized event set the stage for honoring local women who are trailblazers in sports.
The panel of professional women included the Hon. Claudia Daniels-Depeyster, a golfer and member of the Black Jewel Ladies Golf Association-Brooklyn (NY) Chapter; Kym Hampton, a former WNBA basketball player; Heather Hardy, championship boxer and kickboxer; and Nzingha Prescod, a U.S. women’s foil fencer in the 2018 Olympics.
From left: John F. Coffey, Hon. Sylvia Ash, Hon. Claudia Daniels-Depeyster, Heather Hardy, Kym Hampton and Nzingha Prescod. Eagle photo by Hannah Grossman
“I am thrilled to be among the panelist and to receive this honor tonight,” said Daniels-Depeyster, a New York City Criminal Court judge. It is so wonderful to share my love for golf and represent my community of women golfers, as part of the Black Jewels Ladies Golf Association-Brooklyn, New York Chapter.”
Members of the Black Jewels Ladies Golf Association were in attendance to support their honoree and provided a warm welcome to all throughout the event. Daniels-Depeyster earned her J.D. at the University of North Carolina and was admitted to the NYS Bar in 1990 and was received an appointment to New York City Criminal Court of New York County, New York Appellate Division, Second Department in 1995.
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“There is something special about a woman who dominates in a man’s world,” said Justice Sylvia Ash, co-chair of the event. “It takes a certain grace, strength, intelligence, determination and fearlessness. Although these women have excelled in different sports, the one trend that unites them together is that they dared to dream.”
From left: Carrie Anne Cavallo, Hon. Claudia Daniels-Depeyster, Hon. Sylvia Ash, Heather Hardy, Nzingha Prescod and Kym Hampton. (photo by Hannah Grossman.)
Each athlete was asked to speak to an attentive audience of nearly twelve dozen about how they rose to the top of their respective fields in sports, including some of the challenges that they faced which are unique to women in sports. Afterward, the Women’s Bar presented them with awards of appreciation.
While each panelist shared details of her beginning and rise in her particular sport along with unique life experiences, overall the discussion turned pointedly to the large inequities in pay given to women in sports versus men.
Hon. Claudia Daniels-Depeyster
BWBA President Carrie Anne Cavallo said that Heather Hardy’s journey was especially inspiring since she was often told that she could not make it as a boxer because only the men are paid. It wasn’t until 2012 that women boxers were even included in the Olympics.
“Heather’s story was particularly compelling about all the ups and downs that she has gone through in her life,” Cavallo said.
“The same fight that [Hardy] fought, she got paid $7,000 and her male counterpart got $150,000, Cavallo said. “In 2019 [this] is obscene. She fought the same amount of rounds. She did exactly the same fight. The only difference is that in one fight there is a man and in another there is a woman. It’s appalling, honestly.”
About the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association
A century ago, on April 11, 1918, nine dynamic women lawyers united to form the Brooklyn Women’s Bar Association (BWBA) for the purpose of achieving equality, diversity, fairness and opportunity for women lawyers and all women. Since then, the Association has grown to include over 400 members and, through its affiliation with the Women’s Bar Association of the State of New York (WBASNY), has spearheaded countless advances for women. This article traces the history of the BWBA from 2005 to the Association’s centennial in 2018.
