In mainstream media, it may seem that men of color are only championed and celebrated when they dunk a basketball or craft a hit album. “This is false,” Hansford exclaims. “We know that music and athletics require a strong intellectual capacity. Unfortunately, we have yet to address the mental structures, stereotypes, and power dynamics which endure from slavery and Jim Crow times. Whites still decide who is championed for what, and outside of magazines like Black Enterprise, we must appeal to them to champion and celebrate black men for other images outside of the classic stereotypes.”
One of the Top 40 Lawyers Under 40 and Revolt TV’s 25 New Leaders of Social Justice, Hansford is an agent of change of the strongest order. Having honed his skills through “experience, teaching, and study,” Hansford didn’t want to just mimic great speakers such as Malcolm X or Martin Luther King, but also embody their attributes and provide those skills to the fight for people’s equal human rights and treatment under the law. “I hope that I can have a positive impact on the African American community,” he says. “I don’t think I will know what my impact has been until it has been completed.”
With his best years as a soldier for truth and justice within the American way, Hansford has proven that our normal is truly extraordinary. To be named as a BE Modern Man, the Saint Louis University professor believes it to be a true honor. “Others [may] devalue a black man because he is an African or African American man; he might even face indignation and hostility from law enforcement, but [as a BE Modern Man] he should love his peers anyway and stay encouraged and prideful in the face of indignities,” he says.
Hansford, a student and a teacher and a protector of civil liberties for the black populace, earned his reputation through hard work and sacrifice. From the many hours studying to applying what he learned in the streets of Ferguson, Missouri, to Geneva, he exemplifies the best that we have to offer in the fight against injustice, racism, and oppression.
We at Black Enterprise salute you, Justin Hansford, for contributing positive images of men of color to the masses. Your mission of providing advocacy and legal aid to those in need and standing in our defense frames us in an enthusiastic light, and is meant to be celebrated and appreciated.
Be sure to follow the latest and greatest from Justin Hansford (and @blackenterprise!) on Twitter.