Barbara Blackmon’s principled stands in public service are grounded in the strong values she learned in her family.
Born the seventh of nine children in a large, extended family, Blackmon has applied the Mississippi values she lived and learned as a child to her career as a college instructor, attorney and state senator.
With a father and grandparents who farmed, Blackmon and her siblings worked on the farm. Family, faith and community were sacred in her family. In her public service, Blackmon has had three guiding principles: community, opportunity and responsibility.
Barbara Blackmon’s parents each had only an 8th grade education but stressed the importance of a good education. She put that value, as well as her strong work ethic to use in school. She earned a B.S. degree from Jackson State University, when she was 19 years old, an M.B.A. from the University of Alabama, when she was 20 years old, the Juris Doctorate from the University of Mississippi, and an LLM degree in Taxation from New York University. She received an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Tougaloo College
Barbara Blackmon is a member of the Mississippi State Bar as well as the New York State Bar. She worked as a college instructor when she was 20 years old and her students were older than she. After obtaining her LLM in Taxation from NYU she returned home to Jackson, Mississippi and worked with a law firm and developed tax clients in her community as well as provided client representation before the Internal Revenue Service and thereby easier access for her clients to the agency. She educated her community about the importance of asset building, estate planning and tax planning. Barbara Blackmon presently is the Managing Partner of Blackmon & Blackmon, PLLC, a small, but aggressive law firm in Canton, Mississippi that does plaintiff and defense work, representing many Fortune 500 clients.
As a state senator, Blackmon worked to increase funding for all of Mississippi’s state colleges and universities. She supported the Adequate Education Plan to improve K-12 schools and was a champion for senior citizens and children, a strong voice for sound health care policies, and an advocate for economic development.
As a continuation of her public service, Richboy Entertainment, Inc. launched The Barbara Blackmon Show April, 2006, a news program, featuring policy makers of the state, providing invaluable information regarding issues of the day, as well as issues which will enhance the quality of life of Mississippians. The show airs in 68 of the state’s 82 counties each Sunday morning.
Barbara Blackmon presently serves as President of the National Black Caucus of States Institute, a public policy think tank, which developed parallel to the National Black Caucus of State Legislators in 2002. She is Co-Chair of the National Campaign for Jackson State University’s $50 Million Campaign for scholarships, endowments and programs and serves on the Board of Directors for the Jackson State University Foundation. She is on the steering committee for the B.B. King Museum in Indianola, Mississippi. She has served on the Board of Directors of the United Way of the Capital Area, Boys and Girls Club of Central Mississippi, Stewpot of Canton, the American Red Cross Central Mississippi Chapter and The Foundation for Education and Economic Development, among other community and professional associations.
Barbara Blackmon represented Humphreys, Madison and Yazoo counties in Senate District 21 for 12 years. She was the 2003 Democratic Nominee for Lieutenant Governor of the State of Mississippi. Blackmon is an attorney who lives in Canton and is married to State Representative Edward Blackmon, Jr., also an attorney. They have two sons, Madison Edward, age 21 and Bradford Jerome, age 17. The Blackmons’ are members of Cade Chapel Missionary Baptist Church.

Current Employment Position:
Partner

Bar Admissions:
Mississippi, 1981
New York, 1982

Education:
New York University School of Law
New York, NY, 1982
LL.M.
Major: Taxation

University of Mississippi School of Law
Oxford, MS, 1981
J.D.

University of Alabama
Tuscaloosa, AL, 1976
M.B.A.
Major: Business Administration

Jackson State University Jackson, MS, 1975
B.S.
Major: Business Administration

Professional Associations and Memberships:

• Mississippi State Senate
  
• State Senator
  
• Past Employment Positions:
  
• Bristol-Myers Company, New York, NY, Associate Tax Attorney
  
• Banks & Nichols, Jackson, MS, Associate Attorney

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