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First James Robinson Johnston Endowed Chair In Black Canadian Studies – 1996-2002 Archives

The James Robinson Johnston Endowed Chair in Black Canadian Studies is an unprecedented national initiative established to “bring Black culture, reality, perspectives, experiences and concerns into the Academy. ” A truly government-public collective effort and collaborative partnership between both institutions and individuals, the Johnston Chair was set up at Dalhousie University with the support of a $2.5 million endowment.

The Johnston Chair was set up at Dalhousie University and is symbolically named for James Robinson Johnston, the first African Nova Scotian university graduate, and the first from his Community to earn a law degree from Dalhousie Law School in 1898.

Following a national recruitment campaign to find a senior scholar, in 1996 Dalhousie University invited Quebec Human Rights Educator,
Esmeralda M.A. Thornhill to inaugurate, anchor and pilot the James Robinson Johnston Endowed Chair in Black Canadian Studies. Homed in Dalhousie’s then Faculty of Law, Professor Thornhill held the Chair from 1996-2002.

Expertise

Esmeralda M.A.Thornhill
LL.D., LL.D., LL.B., Dip. Int’l. & Comp. Law, M.A., Dip. Ed., B.A. Joint Honours

A rich multidisciplinary training and varied professional experience  equip Esmeralda Thornhill with an Anti-racism and Human Rights expertise that well positions her as an effective Speaker, Lecturer, Researcher, Management Level Trainer, and Workshop Facilitator in such areas as, notably:

  • ‘Race’, Racism and Discrimination
  • Critical Race and Legal Theory
  • Human Rights
  • International Human Rights Law
  • Black Women’s Studies/Feminism
  • “Material Reality” of Racism
  • Racism as a Health Hazard
  • ‘Race’ Literacy: A Professional Ethical Imperative
  • Legal Education and ‘Race’ Erasure
  • Anti-racist Teaching Materials
  • Putting ‘Race’ on the Table
  • Black History/Studies
  • Blacks in Canada
  • ‘Race’ Awareness Training

Anti-Apartheid Legal Education

From 1987-1988, she spent the year on secondment in Washington, D.C. as an International Fellow doing anti-apartheid Legal Education and NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) Advocacy with the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. During this time, she was responsible for the Red Ribbon Campaign launched to save the lives of the Sharpeville Six and her research on the use of the death penalty by South Africa is reproduced and chronicled in the U.S. Congressional Record, (“The Sharpeville Six and the Death Penalty in South Africa”. Congressional Record. Proceedings and Debates of the 100th Congress of the United States, 2 ed., 134 No. 32, March 16, 1988).

Education and Professional Training

In addition to an undergraduate Joint Honours degree in Latin and Spanish from McGill University, Professor Thornhill’s academic training includes Post Graduate Studies in Spanish,
French, and Pedagogical Sciences at the Université de Montréal, McGill, and Denver Universities. She also holds a Law degree from the Université du Québec à Montréal and a Diploma in International and Comparative Law from the University of San Diego (Paris, France). Fluently trilingual in English, French and Spanish, this scholar has completed international internships examining ‘race’ both in England and in France at UNESCO headquarters.