HUSL Today Salutes

Mike Espy

Alphonso Michael (Mike) Espy was born November 30, 1953 in Yazoo City, Mississippi.He is the grandson of Thomas J. Huddleston, Sr., the founder of the Afro-American Sons and Daughters, a fraternal society that operated the Afro-American Hospital. The hospital was a leading provider of health care for blacks in the state from the 1920s until the 1970s.

He received his Bachelor's degree in 1975 from Howard University in Washington, D.C., majoring in law. Espy earned his Juris Doctor from the Santa Clara University School of Law in California in 1978. He was an attorney with Central Mississippi Legal Services between 1978 and 1980 and was later the assistant secretary of state to Mississippi Legal Services.

Espy was the assistant secretary of the state's Public Lands Division from 1980 to 1984 and the assistant state attorney general from 1984 to 1985.

Espy was elected as a Democrat to the 100th Congress and was reelected to three succeeding Congresses, serving from January 3, 1987, until his resignation January 22, 1993. President Clinton appointed Espy as our nation's first African American Secretary of Agriculture, a position he maintained from 1993–1994. 

Check out footage of Mr. Espy at an environmental justice rountable on nuclear power at Howard University School of Law:

He currently works as a private sector attorney, counselor, and agricultural advisor, having his own law and consulting firms: Mike Espy, PLLC, and AE Agritrade, Inc. Mr. Espy also keeps busy as a speaker and lecturer, and is frequently asked to comment on current political, economic, legal and social topics. He has appeared on Nightline, the ABC Nightly News, the Today Show, and various other television news programs. He has also been featured in a host of national magazines and periodicals. 

HUSL Today Salutes Mike Espy!!!