WASHINGTON –The Michael O.D. Brown We Love Our Sons & Daughters Foundation will honor Justin Hansford, Howard University law professor with the 2019 Right to Fight Award for his work as a leader in racial and social justice. Hansford will receive the award on August 10 during the Rainbow of Mothers Gala in St. Louis, Mo.

“It is really an honor to receive this award from the Michael Brown Foundation, especially on the heels of the fifth anniversary of Mike Brown’s passing, and the bold activism from the community in Ferguson that followed,” says Hansford. “I am appreciative of the foundation, including Mike Brown’s mother Lezley McSpadden, who continues to work tirelessly toward justice, not just for her own family, but for so many others. I am grateful to be included in this work and I am dedicated to continuing the necessary work to create policies that honor and protect communities of color.”

Hansford, who was a professor in St. Louis when the Ferguson uprising began, joined thousands of protestors in Ferguson to demand justice. He provided community based legal advocacy to protestors and Brown’s family and served as a policy advisor for proposed post-Ferguson reforms at the state, local and federal level. A board member of the foundation, Hansford has testified before the Ferguson Commission, the Missouri Advisory Committee to the United States Civil Rights Commission, the President’s Task Force on 21st Century Policing, and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Hansford is also the executive director of the Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center at the Howard University School of Law.

“We are recognizing Justin for his tireless championing of the under-served and under-represented in the spaces he serves,” says Sandra Abron, executive director of the Michael O.D. Brown We Love Our Sons and Daughters Foundation. “He is a leader in racial and social justice issues and works to advance human and civil rights for all. He has used his platform as an advocate and has made outstanding contributions to the fight for freedom and justice.”

As catalysts for multi-sector systemic change, the Michael O.D. Brown We Love Our Sons & Daughters Foundation builds capacity at the intersection of 4 core outcome components: justice, health, education and family. The foundation established the Rainbow Mothers Initiative which includes a Grief Recovery Support Group to provide friendship, understanding, and hope to those going through the natural grieving process, and the annual Rainbow of Mothers Gala to pay tribute and honor the legacy of the children who have been lost.

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*Featured Image: Justin Hansford and Lezley McSpadden at Howard University School of Law, Source: Howard University

About Howard University Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center

The Thurgood Marshall Civil Rights Center (TMCRC) is the flagship setting for the study and practice of civil rights law at Howard University, the leading historically Black university in the United States. TMCRC seeks to expand civil rights, human rights, freedom, and equal justice under the law by integrating legal advocacy, grassroots organizing, and academic study.

About Howard University

Founded in 1867, Howard University is a private, research university that is comprised of 13 schools and colleges. Students pursue studies in more than 120 areas leading to undergraduate, graduate and professional degrees. The University operates with a commitment to Excellence in Truth and Service and has produced four Rhodes Scholars, 11 Truman Scholars, two Marshall Scholars, one Schwarzman Scholar, over 70 Fulbright Scholars and 22 Pickering Fellows. Howard also produces more on-campus African-American Ph.D. recipients than any other university in the United States. For more information on Howard University, visit www.howard.edu.

Media Contact: Misha Cornelius, misha.cornelius@howard.edu