Triplets use their mutual foundation to further ambitious individual goals.
by Deidra Jackson
The Martin triplets-Deshun, Kenya, and Warren Jr.-stride down the sidewalk on Library Loop near the historic Lyceum at The University of Mississippi. In between classes this airy day, the three are not within sight of their more familiar Oxford campus haunt, the UM School of Law, where they are second-year students. It seems fitting that they walk here, flanked by antebellum academic halls either recently restored or under renovation.
To Deshun, he and his brothers represent a similar renewal within the state's judicial system since the tumultuous civil rights era, including UM's admission of its first known black student in 1962.
"We are potentially the new face of the judiciary in the state of Mississippi," he says.
Many who know the Martins would agree. The 24-year-old brothers, natives of Edwards and political science graduates of Jackson State University, are erudite scholars at the UM Law School. All three are law scholarship recipients who brought with them from JSU 3.9 or better grade-point averages. With wide-ranging ambitions, the trio's career aspirations range in and extend beyond the legal profession.
UM law professor Michael H. Hoffheimer recognized the triplets' academic and individual talents when he taught them as first-year students."They contribute tremendously to the life of the law school," Hoffheimer says. "Deshun is an active voice of conscience for the school; Kenya is an intellectual; Warren quietly bridges heart and mind. I wish I could require them to take all my classes."
Deshun hopes to launch a career as a state politician, in addition to teaching graduate school history courses. Kenya, who says he is dedicated to furthering African-American causes, wants to become a minister. And Warren Jr. aspires to teach law to undergraduates.
Jackson lawyer and alumnus Larry Stamps ('77) predicts such a goal is in easy reach for Warren, who has interned five summers in Stamps' 25-year-old law firm. Conducting research, writing legal memos, and performing other duties, the fledgling attorney's performance exceeded all expectations, Stamps says. "Warren couldn't take a case to trial, but he did everything [else]," says the attorney, who co-owns Stamps & Stamps law firm with his wife, Anita ('82). Stamps also speaks highly of Warren's brothers. "I'm very confident in their abilities-all those guys are brilliant young men," he says.
Wooed by several different colleges and universities during their final years at JSU, Deshun, Kenya, and Warren Jr. offer different opinions about enrolling at the UM School of Law. It was close to home, it presented the state's best law school education, and, financially, it proposed the "sweetest deal," says Deshun, the "oldest" triplet. And it didn't hurt that older brother Precious Martin ('97) received his law degree at UM. "He laid the trail. We saw that it was attainable," Warren says. The brothers, each sharing candid opinions about what it means to be black law students at a predominantly white university, express frustration over a "lack of more African-American faculty." However, they are swift to laud what they regard as the school's advantages.
"The law professors here have experience," Kenya says. "They know practical and theoretical law, and have had practice as lawyers." Warren also gives the professors high marks. "The faculty here have diversified degrees. They're homegrown and from Ivy League colleges. They bring different perspectives, as well as a wealth of knowledge from all over the country." Despite any concerns about deciding to study law-including the academic challenges or being apprehensive about enrolling at The University of Mississippi-the three young men let nothing dissuade them.
"Before coming to the Law School, we all had some background in what law was about," Warren says.
Such lofty confidence, long ingrained by strict parents, two older brothers, supportive extended family, and friends, made law school just another challenge for the triplets. "We knew we were just as smart or smarter [than others enrolled in law school]," Deshun says.
Echoing his sentiments is Precious, a lawyer with Byrd & Associates in Jackson. "We were raised to be independent thinkers. [The triplets] have that quality. At times, they're on the same page, but when they're not, they don't make any excuses for it." "We weren't allowed to make excuses for our shortcomings," Warren says. "We were to achieve and put God first."
Warren is named after the triplets' father, Warren Martin Sr., who died unexpectedly in 1989 of a massive heart attack. Shortly after the tragedy, their mother, Elinder Martin, charged her three 10-year-olds with carrying on and excelling in everything they did-and with maintaining faith in a higher power.
It was a similar providence to which Mrs. Martin turned in 1978 when she and her husband found they were expecting what they thought would be their third child. She prayed for a little girl. Her appeals were answered-with three more baby boys. Today, she still chuckles at the divine irony. When asked to describe the triplets' distinct personalities, a smile permeates her voice.
"It's like three different ladies had three different boys," says Mrs. Martin. "They're unique in their own way. They are not unalike, they're just different. They're blessed because they have each other."
Mrs. Martin, a retired 27-year teacher of English and reading at Hinds County Public Schools, impartially preens at the accomplishments of all five of her sons and eyes an even brighter future for them. Rounding out the family is the Martins' eldest child, Ivan, a construction worker. The proud mom isn't coy about assuming some of the credit for her children's success.
"I laid the groundwork for them to achieve and be where they are now," she says. "All children can learn, but we have to find that niche in which they're capable of learning and go from there." Deshun, Kenya, and Warren Jr. already seem confident in the calling they have chosen. In an ambitious pact among them, the triplets vow to give back to their alma mater JSU-specifically, $1 million within seven years after their May 2004 law school graduation.
Deidra Jackson is a communications specialist in UM Media and Public Relations.