Cecilia Marshall, Board of Directors for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and as Chief Advancement Officer at Ed Advancement and Thurgood Marshall’s granddaughter: 

Growing up, you know, my earliest memory was just sitting on his lap in his chair in the living room on the weekends. My parents would drop me off to spend my weekend with my grandparents. So I remember sitting on his lap, you know, running around the house, you know, really just watching TV hanging out inside. You know, so I think for me, he was always just my grandfather. You know, I think we would go to different activities that probably weren't normal to others, that I didn't realize. Like going to the Supreme Court as a kid and just kind of hanging out in the Supreme Court, riding the elevator, you know, looking at the different statues and pictures and just running around his chambers to me was just normal. It was just my grandpa's office. You know, I think I didn't realize who he was until he passed. 

So I was actually at my mom's mom's house for her birthday when we got the news, and my mom's mom drove me to the hospital. And still, I didn't quite realize, you know, at that moment, I think. But when at one moment he was laying in state at the Supreme Court, and there were these little TVs around the court with the picture of the lines. It was January. It was freezing, and there were people lined up all around the court. I couldn't even see the end of the line. So I see it, and I knew it was my job to stand next to his casket as a member of the family. And so I did that, and just every day families would come up and express what he meant to them. You know, just grandmothers, mothers, children with them. You know, and that's when I realized, you know, standing behind this kind of rope with the casket and people just pouring their hearts out about what he meant to them is when I realized he was different. I think that was, for me, the moment that I realized I wasn't just a kid at my grandpa's funeral. 

You know, and then obviously at the cathedral for the service, pulled into the back to meet the president. You know, it just, that obviously, just the security that comes with that and just, you know, obviously you know who the president is as a kid. So that was definitely felt different for me. And so that, I think that's when I started to understand that I needed to behave differently in public and at events, you know, I think it was much more, you know, so I think at that moment, even as I was 11, you know, even then I knew it wasn't my time for grieving. This was a time to, you know, to do my job. And so, you know, I think that's when I realized, and so everything I've learned about him has been from my grandmother, my father, listening to his voice, reading, videos, or even Lawrence Fishburne played him in a play. And I felt like he was back to life for a few minutes, the older version I recognized. And so I think for me, you know, that was when I truly understood. But everything I've learned, I've learned from family about him, because I only knew him as my “grandpa”

Cecilia Marshall, Board of Directors for the NAACP Legal Defense Fund and Chief Advancement Officer at Ed Advancement and Thurgood Marshall’s granddaughter:

So, when I think about young people today, I guess if I were to think about those that are in high school, potentially thinking about, or in college, thinking about “what am I going to do with my life?” or you know, “what can I do with my life?” I think, you know, I'm just hoping that his legacy of, you know, just one man doing the job can make a difference. So, you know, whether it's in the law or something else, I'm just hoping that in parts that, you know, as students are graduating, they realize that one person's work is enough, you know? 

I think these days it can be very easy to be scared for what could you do. You know, things can be daunting, but I think it's important to remember that one person can support the cause and I think he always talked about the others, but I think it's, 'cause it's a group effort, you know, in this sense. But I think it's important that you still need to be one of those pieces in this puzzle to get us to where we need, which is a true democracy. 

I think he always said that he wanted, you know, a child born to a mother with no money, a child of color to be just as much, have the same rights as someone that is a wealthy white child, born in the wealthiest situation. They should be equal, and it's not, you know, and I think that's a true democracy. Is that no matter what your status, that you have the same rights as a child in this country, and sadly, that's still not true.