B.S.W. (Dalhousie), LL.B. (Toronto), LL.M. (New York University)
Assistant Professor
Director, Indigenous Blacks & Mi'kmaq Initiative
Telephone: 902.494.1542
E-mail: michelle.williams@dal.ca
Biography: Originally from Nova Scotia, where she completed her B.S.W. at Dalhousie’s School of Social Work, Ms. Williams-Lorde has been a member of the Ontario Bar since 1996. She practiced with the African Canadian Legal Clinic (ACLC) undertaking test case litigation to challenge racism in general and anti-Black racism in particular. She also led the ACLC’s intervention in the Commission of Inquiry into the Deployment of Canadian Forces to Somalia and appeared before federal, provincial and municipal committees to address issues of substantive equality.
Ms. Williams-Lorde was a member of the inaugural class of Global Public Service Law Scholars at New York University, where she obtained a Master of Laws (2001) and was then awarded a post-graduate Global Public Service Law Fellowship. Upon completion, she was appointed Policy Advisor to the Federal Minister of State for Multiculturalism and Status of Women.
Ms. Williams-Lorde was a key organizer of the First National African Canadian Preparatory Conference in preparation for the U.N. World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance (WCAR) and an NGO delegate to WCAR. She has also served on numerous official Canadian delegations to multilateral organizations such as the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (UNCSW) and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Prof. Williams-Lorde joined the Faculty of the Schulich School of Law in 2004. In addition to her work as IB&M Director, she teaches criminal law and is an academic researcher with the Nova Scotia Restorative Justice-Community University Research Alliance.
Publications:
“The IB&M Initiative: Reflections on 20 Years” (October 2009) 27:4 Society Record 33-35.
“Sisyphus’s Ongoing Journey: Anti-Black Racism and the Myth of Racial Equality in Canada” David Divine, ed., Multiple Lenses: Voices from the Diaspora (Newcastle, UK: Cambridge Scholars Press, 2007) 383-398.
Select Presentations:
· “A Critical Race Approach to Restorative Justice: The African Nova Scotian Context” -Presentation as part of the 32nd Canadian Congress on Criminal Justice, Halifax, Nova Scotia, October 30th, 2009.
· “Inclusive Curriculum” -Presentation as part of the 2009 National Conference of the Canadian Association for Prevention of Discrimination and Harassment in Higher Education, Halifax, Nova Scotia, May 26, 2009
· “Racism & the Legal Profession: Issues & Anti-Racism Initiatives” -Presentation as part of the Race, Law & Judging Seminar organized by the National Judicial Institute, Halifax, Nova Scotia, April 8, 2009
· “African Nova Scotian Resistance: Justice in Action” -Keynote African Heritage Month Lecture, St. F.X. University, Antigonish, Nova Scotia,
· February 2, 2006
· “Canada: the (Broken) Promised Land” - Lecture as part of the Faculty of Law Diversity Series, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, March 9, 2005
· “The Economic Impact of Racism” -Presentation at Opening Plenary Session of the Indigenous Bar Association (IBA) Conference, Calgary, Alberta, October 14, 2004
· “Public Interest Lawyering and the Role of Community” -Guest Lecture at the Global Public Service Law Seminar, New York University School of Law, New York, NY, January 29, 2002
· “The Canadian Human Rights Framework: A Comparative Perspective” -Presentation at a seminar hosted by the European Network against Racism and the Platform of European Social NGOs, United Nations World Conference against Racism, Durban, South Africa, August 30, 2001
· “Human Rights in Global Perspective: Race, Gender and the World Conference against Racism” -Presentation at a Special Session of the American Sociological Foundation Annual Meeting, Washington D.C., August 11, 2000
Research interests:
Critical race theory, Critical Race Feminism, African Canadians and the law, Criminal Law, Restorative Justice, and the practice of domestic and global public interest law.
Courses:
· LAWS 1001 - Criminal Justice: The Individual and the State