Imani Tibbs Earns Law Degree

Cleveland, OH) -- As parents, you never know when your kids are listening.

When our daughter was young. We always taught her to “BECOME WHO YOU ARE!” Thirty years ago, we really didn’t know who Imani would become. Our continual prayer for her was “Become who God has called and equipped you to be.”

We would have engaging discussions with her, even when she was very young. She was quite the calculating conversationalist. If we told her to write on paper and not on the wall. She would write on wallpaper. She ALWAYS found the loophole.

It was during these times that I often told her: “You should become a lawyer when you grow up. I would hate for you to waste this skill of calculating conversation.”

Maybe that was prophecy.

On Sunday, May 21, 2023, Imani Denmark Tibbs graduated from Cleveland State University’s College of Law. She was a Dean’s Leadership Fellow and had received a full academic scholarship. During her tenure, she received several awards and honors. She even made a cameo appearance in the school’s 125th anniversary video tribute, which premiered during the graduation ceremony.

Last Saturday night, she even accepted a proposal from her boyfriend, Derek Boone of Raleigh, NC. His parents are Joseph and Wanda Boone of the same city.

Wow, what a blessing to experience an engagement and law school graduation on the same weekend — we are overjoyed! Praise the Lord! God hears and answers prayer.

And yes, when we think of our daughter, we still pray, “become who you are,” because she’s still becoming all that she can be.

Congratulations, Imani Denmark Tibbs, JD! With much love from your parents Rev. Marc and Mrs. Belva Tibbs

By Mrs. Belva Tibbs