Enacting Transformational Change
She’s tired of her community being left behind, and not getting any safer. It's time that we get back to the basics of a clean, safe, thriving Memphis. It is time.
Change you can feel on
the Memphis City Council
Janika is a native and lifelong Memphian who has been serving the people of the city that she dearly loves. Janika is a graduate of Central High School, the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and earned a J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law. After law school, Janika served as the judicial clerk to the Honorable Kenny Armstrong at the Chancery Court for Shelby County. Janika then had the distinct honor of clerking for the Honorable Bernice B. Donald at the United States District Court for the Western District of Tennessee.
For almost a decade, Janika has practiced alongside the legendary Walter Bailey and is currently managing partner at Janika White Law PLLC. She is a skilled and successful litigator with experience in complex and high-profile criminal defense and civil litigation. During Janika’s time as an attorney, she has prided herself in passionately advocating for her clients, ensuring they know the full extent of their constitutional rights, and granting each and every person the detailed attention and representation they deserve. Her close-knit family of community leaders, activists, and the church instilled in her strong values of service and leadership at an early age.
Janika is no stranger to service
She was born into it. She’s the daughter of John and Anita White. Both Mr. & Mrs. White worked at legacy Memphis City Schools as educators and administrators for nearly 40 years. Janika is also the niece of the late Reverend Ralph White of Bloomfield Baptist Church in the heart of South Memphis, where she was a member under her uncle’s leadership and benevolence. Affectionately referred to as “Uncle Pokey,” Reverend White was a giant of a man in the Memphis community. He was involved with the Citizens for Community Values of Memphis, Shelby County Domestic Violence Task Force, the Civilian Law Enforcement Review Board, and served as the West Tennessee Field Representative for Promise Keepers International. Janika walked alongside Reverend White as he poured his heart for the people of Memphis, served with pride and dignity, and called for reform and justice time and time again in the courtroom.
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Janika is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Incorporated, Bloomfield Urban Ministries, the National Bar Association Ben F. Jones Chapter, Leo Bearman Inn of Courts, Tennessee Trial Lawyers, and Memphis Bar Association.
Uniquely Qualified
My energy, professional experience, innovation, and passion for my community make me uniquely qualified to be the person to continue and build upon the work of the Memphis City Council.
It's time to restore a sense of equity to every neighborhood and safety to our communities. It is time.