The Honorable Kwame Y. Raoul

Lawyer and politician Kwame Y. Raoul was born on September 30, 1964 in Chicago, Illinois to Marie and Dr. Janin Raoul. He earned his B.A. degree in political science in 1987 from DePaul University in Chicago and was awarded his J.D. degree in 1993 from Chicago-Kent College of Law.

Raoul began his legal career in 1993 as a prosecutor in the Criminal Appeals Division of the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office. In 1995, he ran for alderman of Chicago’s Fourth Ward and entered private practice the following year, co-founding the Jean-Baptiste Raoul Law Firm. He later served as counsel for the City Colleges of Chicago and, beginning in 2000, taught courses on labor law. In 2004, Raoul was appointed to the Illinois State Senate after then State Senator Barack Obama was elected to the United States Senate. Raoul was elected to a full term in 2006 and re-elected in 2010. During his time in office, Raoul continued to practice law and worked for Quarles and Brady LLP from 2012 until 2019. In January of 2019, Raoul was sworn in as the forty-second attorney general of Illinois. During his first term, Raoul joined the twenty-state coalition defending the Affordable Care Act in the U.S. Supreme Court. Raoul also supported police oversight, criminal justice reform, and investigations into retail theft across the state. He was elected to a second term in 2022.

During his career, Raoul has received numerous honors for his public service, including the Public Official of the Year Award from the Illinois Association of Chiefs of Police and the Lifetime Achievement Award from Planned Parenthood of Illinois. From 2014 to 2019, he served on the boards of International Child Care and Legal Prep Charter Academies. In 2000, Raoul founded the Janin and Marie Raoul Foundation, a health advocacy organization. He was also a founding member of the Haitian American Lawyers Association of Illinois. He is a member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., and of the mentoring organization 100 Black Men of Chicago.

Raoul was married to Dr. Lisa Moore. They have two children, Che and Mizan Raoul, and reside in Chicago, Illinois.

The Honorable Kwame Raoul was interviewed by The HistoryMakers on June 5 and 27, 2024.