Celebrating Black Legal Icons with Allison Matulli

Magali Zoghaib | Staff Writer 

The Maurice A. Ferré Institute for Civic Leadership hosted another successful event of their Black Women in Law series featuring Allison Matulli. 

Matulli, an author, professor at the Criminology and Criminal Justice department at FIU, and former attorney spoke at length regarding her strong belief in considering ‘free speech’ rights a fundamental part of who we are as a person and the importance of understanding those rights from a young age. 

During the event, she  discussed merging her passion in law with her other passion, children.

“People don’t think they need to understand law until there is a problem,” said Matulli, stressing on the rise in the number of children unaware of their rights. 

This gap is what inspired Matulli to start her  award-winning foundation, The Little Lawyers. The foundation aims to turn the study of law into a fun learning experience for children and people of all ages.

To encourage children to voice their thoughts, Matulli authored her book “Your Freedom, Your Power: A Kid’s Guide to the First Amendment”, shedding light on the basics of American politics for middle schoolers. 

Throughout the book, Allison aims to empower children to understand their rights to freedom of speech, religion, and petition in a fun way by including relatable examples. 

During the event, moderator Melba Pearson brought up Matulli’s  Fulbright Scholar Award , inquiring about the project she is currently working on as part of the program. 

Matulli discussed researching and writing about the ways in which children across different countries experience freedom of speech. She plans to engage with people from diverse backgrounds to explore the importance of distinct voices.

“When I worked for the U.S. Department of State at the American consulate in Italy, I gained insight into the power of the Fulbright program, and I knew that it would be my path one day,” said Matulli in an interview with FIU News. 

According to her biology, Allison’s ongoing pursuit to connect with and comprehend others has driven her to travel to over 30 countries. “One world, one voice,” as she said. 

Regarding her future endeavors, Matulli mentioned her upcoming school book tour, during which she plans to visit up to three schools per city.

She encouraged the audience to disregard the “no’s” we hear in life and always prioritize saying “yes” to ourselves, emphasizing it as the most significant affirmation.