Banafsheh Acklaghi
First Client:
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In this excerpt from her oral history interview, attorney Banafshe Ackhlaghi describes the circumstances of her first client — leading her career in civil rights advocacy for people of Middle Eastern and South East Asian descent.
Complete Interview on Audio:
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Banafshe Ackhlaghi, is a prominent civil rights attorney and founder of The National Legal Sanctuary For Community Advancement. She describes her family’s history in Iran, including their forced departure from Iran during the Islamic Revolution in the late 1970s. Her uncle was a political prisoner at Evin Prison — a prison known for severe human rights violations and torture. She wrote to Amnesty International, seeking their aid and advocacy for her uncle. They declined her request, citing their priority to take cases with more notoriety. After consulting with her father, who advised her always to “follow your heart,” she decided to become what she calls a “human rights lawyer . . . in order to help people like my uncle.”
Interviewers: Aayesha Jalaluddin Soni (South Africa) and Laily Majlessi (United States).