Justin Hansford
U.S. Candidate for the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent
This election concluded on Dec. 16, 2021. Professor Hansford was elected.
Professor Justin Hansford is a leading scholar and activist in the fields of racial justice, human rights, and law and social movements. He is the Founder and Executive Director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center and a law professor at Howard University School of Law. Professor Hansford was previously a Democracy Project Fellow at Harvard University, a Visiting Professor of Law at Georgetown University, and an Associate Professor of Law at St. Louis University. His interdisciplinary scholarship has appeared in academic journals at various universities, including Harvard, Georgetown, Fordham, and the University of California at Hastings. Professor Hansford is also a member of the Stanford Medicine Commission on Justice and Equity.
Professor Hansford holds a Bachelor of Arts from Howard University and a Juris Doctor from Georgetown University. He also earned a Fulbright Scholar award to study the legal career of Nelson Mandela and served as a clerk for Judge Damon Keith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. Professor Hansford served as a policy advisor to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and President Obama’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing. His advocacy for marginalized groups, commitment to human rights, leadership in civil society, and innovative research on racial justice, attests to his ability to effectively advance the work of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent.
Professor Hansford has visited Europe and Canada as an activist and scholar, specifically exploring how racial justice issues like police violence and reparations manifest in diverse environments. If elected, Professor Hansford will draw upon his deep experience, expertise, and passion to help ensure the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent is impactful as a platform for improving the safety and quality of life and livelihoods of African descendent people globally.
PFPAD’s Importance to the United States
The United States has made advancing racial justice at home and abroad a top priority. We strongly supported the establishment of the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD) to improve the safety and quality of life and livelihoods of African descendent people globally. The United States views the work of the PFPAD as essential to contributing to the full economic, political, and social equity and inclusion of African descendent people globally in the societies and communities in which they live. The Forum will create a space where all people of African descent can come together to build a better world.
Advancing a world of equity and equality is implicit in the United Nations’ founding spirit and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and one that appeals to the higher aspirations of us all. The United States proudly supported the adoption of the resolution to establish the Permanent Forum for People of African Descent, a body which will help promote fundamental freedoms and human rights for people of African descent and stand against all forms of racism, racial discrimination, and xenophobia. As we confront our history and lingering inequalities, we stand united with the international community in our determination to build a better and more equitable future based upon respect and appreciation for the unique contributions all peoples and cultures make to strengthen the world.
Ambassador linda thomas-greenfield
U.S. Representative to the United Nations
Professor Hansford’s Priorities for the PFPAD
“If elected, I will draw upon my experience, expertise, and passion to help ensure the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (PFPAD) is impactful as a platform as possible for improving the safety and quality of life and livelihoods of African descendent people globally.
If I am granted the opportunity to serve as an elected member of the PFPAD, my priorities will include issues that affect all Africans and members of our diaspora, including environmental justice for Indigenous Black communities worldwide, equal access to health care and vaccines globally, reparations and repair for the continuing ramifications of slavery and colonialism, the end of racist state violence against people of African Descent using the police, criminal justice system or other any color of law, and the recognition that Black Lives do indeed Matter, not just locally, but globally.But most of all, PFPAD must serve as a bridge and connector, not a wall or a divider, for our movements. It is my hope that the Working Group of Experts for People of African Descent, those working to fulfill the Durban Declaration Programme of Action, and very importantly, International Decade for People of African Descent, will all come together with this forum to form a new pan-African moment of hope, unity, and progress that will make human rights for all people of African descent a reality in the 21st century.”
Professor Justin Hansford, U.S. candidate for the Permanent Forum on People of African Descent (2022-2024)