Kimberle Crenshaw is a pioneering scholar and writer on civil rights, Black feminist legal theory, and race, racism and the law. She was a founder and has been a leader in the intellectual movement called Critical Race Theory, and is also known for introducing and developing the concept of intersectionality. She is a Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, and is the co-founder and Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum. Crenshaw writes regularly for The New Republic, The Nation and Ms., has appeared as a commentator on media outlets including MSNBC and NPR, and hosts the podcast Intersectionality Matters!
A beautifully written, compelling and insightful memoir from the extraordinary intellectual, activist and scholar who has shaped critical discourse in America. A moving and powerful read -- Bryan Stevenson A searing, defiant and deeply inspiring memoir for our times from one of America's greatest architects of justice -- V (formerly Eve Ensler) It is rare that creators of movements that shake the world use the memoir form to honestly and precisely explore how their will to change was created. Kimberlé Crenshaw has made a fleshy piece of theory, a foundational book for this nation, a moving memoir that will continue to build on the monumental work Crenshaw has already done. We will thankfully be feeling the work of this book for generations -- Kiese Laymon Kimberlé Crenshaw is one of America’s most original legal thinkers, a pioneering theorist whose scholarship has transformed the way we think about race, gender, and the law. Now in Backtalker, her powerful new memoir, she reminds us of the greatest teacher of all: experience. Here is a compelling account of the making not only of a visionary mind on the front lines of change, but of the ‘we’ that binds us to one another in families, communities, and in the nation as a whole -- Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Her ideas have shaped generations of thinkers and activists globally. Now, with Backtalker, we come to understand the people and contexts that have given shape to Kimberlé Crenshaw, her values and her sensibilities. This in-depth self-portrait reveals a woman of great depth, courage, and conviction—a truth teller and justice seeker. It is a tale as unique and compelling as its author, a much needed story for our times and beyond -- Farah Jasmine Griffin My feminist hero is Dr Kimberlé Crenshaw … We live in turbulent times, and I think it’s in part thanks to Dr Crenshaw that more marginalised voices are now speaking up -- Munroe Bergdorf Kimberlé Crenshaw is a national treasure -- Kerry Washington Her name and her work have become an introductory point for feminists of all stripes * New Statesman * The woman who revolutionised feminism * Guardian *