photo by steed media service

As an impressionable prepubescent, Tamara Holder was assailed by a torrential downpour of damning words from a family member, resulting in self-doubt and destructively rebellious behavior. Fortunately, others convinced Holder that she was destined for success, and she took advantage of the opportunity for a second chance at life. Today, through the Law Firm of Tamara Holder, she too gives second chances by helping people clear their criminal records via expungements and pardons with the Web site www.xpunged.com.

“Like everyone else, I want to be self-sufficient. I want to be successful. I want to be independently wealthy. But I want to make my money and build my name on representing people who don’t have a voice,” she said while attending Rev. Jesse Jackson’s birthday bash in Beverly Hills, Calif. “I built my name [in Chicago] because I always fight for the right cause. And I get beat up a lot.” The founder of the Rainbow Push Expungement Clinic, Holder is currently suing Debard High School on behalf of Maya Oquendo, a high-achieving minority student allegedly expelled unjustifiably. Black students, a Chicago Tribune study reveals, are expelled at more than nine times the rate of their white counterparts in DuPage County.

Reminiscing about helping dismissed railroad workers with criminal pasts get their jobs back, Holder says: “For my birthday last year, one of the railroad guys gave me Life Savers Gummies. He said, ‘You’re a lifesaver.’ Somebody else wants a diamond bracelet for their birthday, but that gesture for my birthday are the things, you know, that are priceless.” -terry shropshire

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