After Michael Brown’s murder in Ferguson, Missouri, Justin Hansford helped Brown family members bring their appeal for justice to the United Nations (Ferguson to Geneva: Using the Human Rights Framework to Push Forward a Vision for Racial Justice in the United States). This conversation brings together Black community leaders, advocates, and educators to discuss this effort and understand how Professor Hansford views social movements and the law means of social transformation.

Justin Hansford is Professor of Law at Howard University, Executive Director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center, and representative to the new United Nations Permanent Forum of People of African Descent (UNPFPAD). Hansford is a co-author of the forthcoming Seventh Edition of Race, Racism and American Law, and his legal scholarship informs his work to win a posthumous pardon for Marcus Garvey ("Black History Matters: Why President Obama Should Pardon Marcus Garvey," The Root). Professor Hansford’s visit to Pittsburgh is part of a “listening tour” he is making in preparation for the inaugural meeting of the UNPFPAD in early December.

This event is cosponsored by University Human Rights Working Group;  University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public and International Affairs; Global Studies Center; World History Center; School of Education; Center for Civil Rights and Racial Justice; Schools of Health Sciences Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion; Departments of Africana Studies, English, Political Science, and Sociology; Center for Race and Social Problems.