Paul L Brady

Paul L Brady (born 1927) was an American civil rights advocate, author and Federal Administrative Law Judge who, when he achieved that position in 1972, became the first African American to do so. He remained working for the Federal Government for thirty-one years, retiring in 1997. Born in Flint, Michigan, he had previously served in the US Navy, been a private practice judge, a Social Security Administration hearing examiner and a trial attorney for the Federal Power Commission. He was a graduate of the University of Michigan, the University of Kansas and Washburn University.

Brady published A Certain Blindness chronicling his ancestors history on their arrival in the United States, and received many accolades from civil rights groups during his career. Brady was the great-nephew of Bass Reeves, who was among the first African Americans to receive a commission as a Deputy U.S. Marshal west of the Mississippi River, and the second husband of Xernona Clayton, a civil rights leader.