James Dorsey, a 95-year-old great-grandfather living in Houston, has finally received an official birth certificate after spending almost his entire life without an official record of his birth. Attorney Raynique Keelen personally delivered the document to Dorsey’s home, ending a search that had lasted for decades. Dorsey was born on a Louisiana plantation in 1931. “Mr. Dorsey, we have something for you,” Keelen said as she entered his home, according to Houston television station ABC13. For Dorsey, receiving the official certificate ended years of worry about his legal identity and citizenship. When ABC13 reporter Brandon Hamilton asked how he felt about finally getting the document, Dorsey said: “Lord, have mercy. I don’t know how to feel. I feel so good. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me if I didn’t have it.”
Early life on a Louisiana plantation
Dorsey was born in August 1931 with the help of a midwife. At that time, many births in rural Black communities across the American South were not officially recorded by state authorities. As a child, Dorsey grew up working in the cotton fields on the plantation. “I was born on Ellerbe Plantation. Sure was…about 25 miles out of Shreveport, Louisiana,” Dorsey told ABC13. During the 1950s, he moved from Louisiana to Houston and began building his life in Texas. He raised a family and worked as a lorry driver. For many years, Dorsey believed that his birth had been officially registered and that his mother had kept the necessary paperwork. “I didn’t know…I thought my mother had it. I didn’t know I didn’t have none until I was about to get married,” he explained to ABC13. Without a birth certificate, Dorsey eventually had to give up his job as a lorry driver. He did not have the main form of identification needed to keep his commercial driving credentials or deal with government offices and other official processes.
State bureaucracy delays initial application
ABC13 first brought Dorsey’s situation to public attention during the summer around Juneteenth. The report highlighted his long effort to obtain official proof of his birth. After the first broadcast, a spokesperson for the Louisiana Department of Health directed the television station to the state’s vital records department. This gave the family a way to submit an official application for Dorsey’s birth certificate. Dorsey’s daughter, Barbara Dorsey-Curry, helped her father complete and send the required paperwork. However, several weeks passed without any response or update from state officials. During this waiting period, Dorsey reached another milestone and celebrated his 95th birthday without receiving the document he had wanted for so many years.
Volunteer lawyer uncovers misfiled records
Things began moving forward after a viewer who had watched ABC13’s report contacted attorney Raynique Keelen. She has law practices in both Houston and New Orleans. Keelen agreed to handle Dorsey’s case without charging the family and help them deal with Louisiana’s legal and government procedures. While searching through state records, Keelen discovered why the first application had not moved forward. Dorsey’s birth had actually been recorded, but the information contained major mistakes. These errors had made it difficult to find his record through normal searches. “Louisiana, it’s the process we had to go through, one to locate the birth certificate and vital records, which we were able to do. It was under a different name and different date of birth. Had a week off in the name, of course, was totally different. And then from there I had to go to our courthouse in New Orleans,” Keelen told ABC13. After getting the necessary court action in New Orleans to correct and confirm the record, Keelen obtained a certified copy of Dorsey’s birth certificate. She then travelled to Houston to deliver the document to him personally.
Family celebrates answered prayer
For Dorsey’s family, receiving the certificate brought an end to a difficult problem that had affected them for generations. His daughter, Barbara Dorsey-Curry, said the television report and Keelen’s free legal help made it possible to achieve something the family had struggled to do for years. “It’s a blessing, Brandon. Yes, it is. And I appreciate your help because he’d been wanting it forever. He didn’t know how to go by doing it,” Dorsey-Curry told ABC13 reporter Brandon Hamilton. Keelen said it was deeply satisfying to see Dorsey finally receive official recognition of his birth. She noted that the certificate now gives him formal proof of his place in the country’s records after 95 years. “He’s come full circle, a chapter in his life. He has proof that he’s here. He was born. He’s the American citizen. So happy to do it for him,” Keelen said.