Jason Holt Recognized with Living Legends Award for Service to Humanity
Chiesa Shahinian & Giantomasi PC (CSG Law) congratulates Jason Holt, a Member of the firm’s Real Estate Group, on his acceptance of the 20th Living Legends Awards for Service to Humanity, which recognizes individuals and organizations whose life work lays the foundation for the betterment of mankind.
For two decades, the Living Legends Awards for Service to Humanity has brought awareness to a broad spectrum of social justice and humanitarian issues. At the recent 2025 Leaders in Law awards program, Jason Holt and Angela Holder, a professor of American history at Houston Community College, were both named Champions of Restorative Justice for their efforts and advocacy on behalf of 110 Black soldiers wrongly convicted – 19 of whom were executed – more than a century ago following a flawed trial marred by racism.
“I place my soul on the shoulders of my ancestors and pledge to use my life’s energy to continue to build a legacy of which those who come after me can be proud,” said Jason Holt. “To give them an example of which they can be proud, dedicated to the principles of equality, equanimity, fairness, justice and humanity, so that they can live to realize their potential, hampered only by their willingness to dream and to achieve. This is the legacy of Pfc. Thomas Colman Hawkins and what his sacrifice has inspired in me.”
Chaplain Colonel Primitivo Davis, Chief of Staff and Chief of Chaplains of the U.S. Army, introduced the awardees and acknowledged that he stands “on the shoulders of men like Corporal Jesse Moore and Private First Class Thomas C. Hawkins and the Buffalo soldiers.”
“The 1917 Houston riot involving the all-Black 24th infantry regiment, also more famously known as the Buffalo soldiers, included Corporal Jesse Moore and Private First Class Thomas C. Hawkins, relatives of Professor Holder and the Honorable Jason Holt, respectively,” Davis said.
As noted by Davis, simmering racial tension in Jim Crow-era Texas boiled over in late August 1917 when more than 100 soldiers marched from their camp and into the city after police pistol-whipped and shot a Black corporal.
“The ensuing trial was the largest in military history and resulted in more than 60 life sentences and 19 hangings of Black soldiers for mutiny,” Davis said. “An initial 13 of those hangings were the largest mass execution of American soldiers by the U.S. Army in its history. After historians eventually found many irregularities in the way the charges were leveled, the convictions were vacated and today the records of the service members now reflect honorable discharges.”
He continued: “The Honorable Jason Holt and Professor Holder along with the efforts, advocacy and contributions of others helped to rectify this miscarriage of justice…They’re being honored for resurrecting and rescuing the honor of Black military heroes who stood for justice and died for righteousness. You are both God-empowered champions of change.”
Jason has more than two decades of experience in local government, municipal law, and fiscal management. He helped revitalize Atlantic City and advised on major redevelopment projects in East Orange. He has served as Corporation Counsel, Municipal Court Judge, and Deputy Legislative Counsel.
Jason’s other recent awards include ROI-NJ’s Influencers: Power List – Law (2025), the Northeast Black Law Students Association’s 57 Most Influential Black Attorneys (2025), Volunteer Lawyers for Justice’s Michael R. Griffinger Volunteer of the Year Award (2024) and Volunteer of the Month (2022), ROI-NJ, Influencers: People of Color (2020-2021; 2023-2024), New Jersey Law Journal, Diverse Attorneys of the Year (2023), ROI-NJ, Influencers: Diversity & Inclusion (2022), and the Certificate of Special United States Congressional Recognition for Civil Rights. In 2021, Jason was named to The Top 100 National Black Lawyers (2021).
To watch this year’s gala along with Jason’s acceptance speech, click here.
Visit csglaw.com/award-methodology for additional details on the selection process and methodology for the above-mentioned recognitions. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.