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Join us for a groundbreaking look at the lives of African American girls by a powerful advocate, Monique W. Morris, author of Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in School. Ms. Morris will be in conversation with Nzingha Dugas, recently appointed to lead the Oakland Unified School District's new initiative, the African American Girls and Young Women Achievement Program.

“Monique Morris is a fearless and brilliant intellectual. Her groundbreaking work illuminates the pernicious challenges at the intersection of race and gender for African American girls in our education and criminal justice systems, and speaks directly and powerfully into the current moment.” —Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund and author of On the Courthouse Lawn

‍Monique W. Morris has been working in the areas of education, civil rights, and social justice for more than twenty years. She is the co-founder of the National Black Women’s Justice Institute and a 2012 Soros Justice Fellow, and she formerly served as Vice President for the Economic Programs, Advocacy and Research at the NAACP.

An advisory board member for Global Girl Media, Oakland, and a regular contributor to Ebony.com, Morris is the author of Black Stats: African Americans by the Numbers in the Twenty-First Century (The New Press). Her debut novel, Too Beautiful for Words, is a favorite among girls in detention facilities and marginalized youth across the country. She lives in the Bay Area with her husband and two daughters.

Prior to joining OUSD, Nzingha Dugas served as Director of U.C. Berkeley’s African American Student Development Office.

‍This event is presented in conjunction with Third Thursdays in Yerba Buena