As the world observes the International Day for People of African Descent on 31 August, progress on eradicating racism is mixed and the road to equality and justice remains long.Renowned historian Verene Shepherd, who chairs the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), sat down with UN News’s Dominika Tomaszewska-Mortimer to talk about how the human rights body works with States towards this goal. Professor Shepherd also recounted how her own experiences as a woman of African descent strengthened her resolve and fuelled her anti-racist advocacy.