Legal Legend of Color: Judge Addie M. Harris Rawls
From humble beginnings in Washington, NC, God has blessed Addie Marica Harris Rawls to achieve much and she truly believes that “to whom much is given much is required.” Judge Rawls has worked diligently throughout her life. She graduated high school with the highest-grade point average in her class. She was also recognized as “Who’s Who Among American High School Students.” Judge Rawls attended Wake Forest University as a George Foster Hankins Scholar and later attended North Carolina Central University School of Law as a Board of Governor’s Scholar. She graduated cum laude and was licensed to practice law in the State of North Carolina in August 1989. After law school, Judge Rawls served as a law clerk at the North Carolina Court of Appeals. In August of 1991, she began working in the Eleventh Prosecutorial District covering Harnett, Johnston and Lee Counties as the first African American Assistant District Attorney. She served in that position for over ten years prior to becoming appointed to the District Court Bench on January 25, 2002 as the first elected African American Judge for the Eleventh Judicial District. She has served five successful terms as an elected District Court Judge in Johnston, Harnett, and Lee counties. Judge Rawls recently retired from the State of North Carolina on January 31, 2022 after 32 1/2 years of service. While serving on the judicial bench, she was firm, but fair as she embraced her campaign slogan, “a judge who stands for justice does more than sit on a bench.”
Judge Rawls is a renowned keynote and motivational speaker and has traveled the United States delivering a message that one person can make a difference and that with God all things are possible. As a minister of the gospel, she answered her call to pastor and planted a local ministry in Smithfield, North Carolina called the New Generation Christian Church. New Generation is a community church seeking to meet the needs of the community. The motto of the church is “step by step we make this journey.” In 2021, she graduated from the Lexington Theological Seminary with a Masters in Theological Studies.
Judge Rawls is passionate about serving her community. She currently serves on the following committees and organizations: the Johnston County Juvenile Crime Prevention Council; the Clayton High School Advisory Council; Johnston, Lee, Harnett Community Action Board of Directors; the Community Back to School Youth Explosion Committee and Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. Judge Rawls has received numerous awards such as The Order of the Long Leaf Pine, Paul Harris Fellow by Smfd Rotarians, three 103.9 The Light Lamplighter Awards, and many more.
More importantly, she believes that “whatever your hands find to do, do it mightily as unto the Lord. You may build cathedrals large or small; you may build skyscrapers grand and tall; you may conquer all the failures of your past; but only what you do for Christ will last.”