0:00:00.680,0:00:03.960
When I was in the sixth grade,[br]I got into a fight at school.

0:00:04.880,0:00:07.136
It wasn't the first time[br]I'd been in a fight,

0:00:07.160,0:00:09.640
but it was the first time[br]one happened at school.

0:00:10.320,0:00:13.856
It was with a boy who was[br]about a foot taller than me,

0:00:13.880,0:00:15.816
who was physically stronger than me

0:00:15.840,0:00:18.080
and who'd been taunting me for weeks.

0:00:19.000,0:00:23.816
One day in PE, he stepped on my shoe[br]and refused to apologize.

0:00:23.840,0:00:28.296
So, filled with anger, I grabbed him[br]and I threw him to the ground.

0:00:28.320,0:00:30.056
I'd had some previous judo training.

0:00:30.080,0:00:32.960
(Laughter)

0:00:34.920,0:00:37.936
Our fight lasted less than two minutes,

0:00:37.960,0:00:40.216
but it was a perfect[br]reflection of the hurricane

0:00:40.240,0:00:42.136
that was building inside of me

0:00:42.160,0:00:44.216
as a young survivor of sexual assault

0:00:44.240,0:00:46.616
and as a girl who was grappling[br]with abandonment

0:00:46.640,0:00:49.736
and exposure to violence[br]in other spaces in my life.

0:00:49.760,0:00:51.296
I was fighting him,

0:00:51.320,0:00:55.136
but I was also fighting the men[br]and boys that had assaulted my body

0:00:55.160,0:00:58.360
and the culture that told me[br]I had to be silent about it.

0:00:59.240,0:01:00.816
A teacher broke up the fight

0:01:00.840,0:01:03.376
and my principle called me in her office.

0:01:03.400,0:01:05.880
But she didn't say,[br]"Monique, what's wrong with you?"

0:01:07.480,0:01:10.616
She gave me a moment to collect my breath

0:01:10.640,0:01:12.600
and asked, "What happened?"

0:01:14.440,0:01:17.416
The educators working with me[br]led with empathy.

0:01:17.440,0:01:18.656
They knew me.

0:01:18.680,0:01:21.976
They knew I loved to read,[br]they knew I loved to draw,

0:01:22.000,0:01:23.800
they knew I adored Prince.

0:01:25.040,0:01:27.856
And they used that information[br]to help me understand

0:01:27.880,0:01:30.696
why my actions, and those[br]of my classmate, were disruptive

0:01:30.720,0:01:32.800
to the learning community[br]they were leading.

0:01:33.760,0:01:36.296
They didn't place me on suspension;

0:01:36.320,0:01:37.880
they didn't call the police.

0:01:38.680,0:01:41.400
My fight didn't keep me[br]from going to school the next day.

0:01:42.520,0:01:45.920
It didn't keep me from graduating;[br]it didn't keep me from teaching.

0:01:48.120,0:01:51.936
But unfortunately, that's not a story[br]that's shared by many black girls

0:01:51.960,0:01:53.760
in the US and around the world today.

0:01:54.640,0:01:57.016
We're living through a crisis[br]in which black girls

0:01:57.040,0:01:59.776
are being disproportionately pushed[br]away from schools ---

0:01:59.800,0:02:03.376
not because of an imminent threat[br]they pose to the safety of a school,

0:02:03.400,0:02:05.576
but because they're often[br]experiencing schools

0:02:05.600,0:02:08.400
as locations for punishment[br]and marginalization.

0:02:09.160,0:02:13.656
That's something that I hear[br]from black girls around the country.

0:02:13.680,0:02:15.656
But it's not insurmountable.

0:02:15.680,0:02:17.240
We can shift this narrative.

0:02:18.640,0:02:20.280
Let's start with some data.

0:02:21.400,0:02:24.456
According to a National Black Women's[br]Justice Institute analysis

0:02:24.480,0:02:25.696
of civil rights data

0:02:25.720,0:02:28.696
collected by the US[br]Department of Education,

0:02:28.720,0:02:31.696
black girls are the only group of girls[br]who are overrepresented

0:02:31.720,0:02:34.160
along the entire continuum[br]of discipline in schools.

0:02:35.360,0:02:39.456
That doesn't mean that other girls aren't[br]experiencing exclusionary discipline

0:02:39.480,0:02:43.096
and it doesn't mean that other girls[br]aren't overrepresented

0:02:43.120,0:02:45.416
at other parts along that continuum.

0:02:45.440,0:02:47.456
But black girls[br]are the only group of girls

0:02:47.480,0:02:49.480
who are overrepresented all along the way.

0:02:50.960,0:02:55.096
Black girls are seven times more likely[br]than their white counterparts

0:02:55.120,0:02:57.816
to experience one or more[br]out-of-school suspensions

0:02:57.840,0:03:01.936
and they're nearly three times more likely[br]than their white and Latinx counterparts

0:03:01.960,0:03:04.000
to be referred to the juvenile court.

0:03:04.720,0:03:08.696
A recent study by the Georgetown[br]Center on Poverty and Inequality

0:03:08.720,0:03:11.856
partially explained[br]why this disparity is taking place

0:03:11.880,0:03:14.136
when they confirmed[br]that black girls experience

0:03:14.160,0:03:16.536
a specific type of age compression,

0:03:16.560,0:03:19.680
where they're seen as more adult-like[br]than their white peers.

0:03:20.640,0:03:22.656
Among other things, the study found

0:03:22.680,0:03:26.736
that people perceive black girls[br]to need less nurturing,

0:03:26.760,0:03:29.776
less protection, to know more about sex

0:03:29.800,0:03:32.800
and to be more independent[br]than their white peers.

0:03:34.120,0:03:35.816
The study also found

0:03:35.840,0:03:41.576
that the perception disparity begins[br]when girls are as young as five years old.

0:03:41.600,0:03:45.816
And that this perception[br]and the disparity increases over time

0:03:45.840,0:03:48.920
and peaks when girls are[br]between the ages of 10 and 14.

0:03:49.920,0:03:51.720
This is not without consequence.

0:03:53.000,0:03:57.456
Believing that a girl is older than she is[br]can lead to harsher treatment,

0:03:57.480,0:04:00.096
immediate censure when she makes a mistake

0:04:00.120,0:04:02.280
and victim blaming when she's harmed.

0:04:03.200,0:04:06.496
It can also lead a girl to think[br]that something is wrong with her,

0:04:06.520,0:04:09.080
rather than the conditions[br]in which she finds herself.

0:04:10.880,0:04:14.776
Black girls are routinely seen[br]as too loud, too aggressive,

0:04:14.800,0:04:16.680
too angry, too visible.

0:04:17.560,0:04:21.016
Qualities that are often measured[br]in relation to nonblack girls

0:04:21.040,0:04:24.976
and which don't take into consideration[br]what's going on in this girl's life

0:04:25.000,0:04:27.016
or her cultural norms.

0:04:27.040,0:04:29.016
And it's not just in the US.

0:04:29.040,0:04:30.616
In South Africa,

0:04:30.640,0:04:32.776
black girls at the Pretoria[br]Girls High School

0:04:32.800,0:04:36.416
were discouraged from attending school[br]with their hair in its natural state,

0:04:36.440,0:04:38.256
without chemical processing.

0:04:38.280,0:04:39.896
What did those girls do?

0:04:39.920,0:04:41.240
They protested.

0:04:42.080,0:04:45.576
And it was a beautiful thing to see[br]the global community for the most part

0:04:45.600,0:04:48.520
wrap its arms around girls[br]as they stood in their truths.

0:04:49.320,0:04:51.656
But there were those[br]who saw them as disruptive,

0:04:51.680,0:04:54.336
largely because they dared[br]to ask the question,

0:04:54.360,0:04:57.376
"Where can we be black[br]if we can't be black in Africa?"

0:04:57.400,0:04:59.256
(Laughter)

0:04:59.280,0:05:01.616
(Applause)

0:05:01.640,0:05:03.080
It's a good question.

0:05:04.400,0:05:06.576
Around the world,

0:05:06.600,0:05:08.720
black girls are grappling[br]with this question.

0:05:09.520,0:05:11.336
And around the world,

0:05:11.360,0:05:14.856
black girls are struggling to be seen,[br]working to be free

0:05:14.880,0:05:16.496
and fighting to be included

0:05:16.520,0:05:19.920
in the landscape of promise[br]that a safe space to learn provides.

0:05:20.800,0:05:24.056
In the US, little girls,[br]just past their toddler years,

0:05:24.080,0:05:26.800
are being arrested in classrooms[br]for having a tantrum.

0:05:27.520,0:05:30.496
Middle school girls are being[br]turned away from school

0:05:30.520,0:05:33.296
because of the way[br]they wear their hair naturally

0:05:33.320,0:05:35.720
or because of the way[br]the clothes fit their bodies.

0:05:36.520,0:05:38.576
High school girls[br]are experiencing violence

0:05:38.600,0:05:41.080
at the hands of police[br]officers in schools.

0:05:41.760,0:05:46.080
Where can black girls be black[br]without reprimand or punishment?

0:05:48.120,0:05:50.736
And it's not just these incidents.

0:05:50.760,0:05:52.816
In my work as a researcher and educator,

0:05:52.840,0:05:56.216
I've had an opportunity[br]to work with girls like Stacy,

0:05:56.240,0:05:58.776
a girl who I profile in my book "Pushout,"

0:05:58.800,0:06:01.760
who struggles with[br]her participation in violence.

0:06:03.360,0:06:08.136
She bypasses the neuroscientific[br]and structural analyses

0:06:08.160,0:06:09.576
that science has to offer

0:06:09.600,0:06:13.016
about how her adverse[br]childhood experiences inform

0:06:13.040,0:06:15.096
why she's participating in violence

0:06:15.120,0:06:18.376
and goes straight to describing herself[br]as a "problem child,"

0:06:18.400,0:06:21.296
largely because that's the language[br]that educators were using

0:06:21.320,0:06:23.200
as they routinely suspended her.

0:06:25.360,0:06:26.976
But here's the thing.

0:06:27.000,0:06:32.216
Disconnection and the internalization[br]of harm grow stronger in isolation.

0:06:32.240,0:06:35.296
So when girls get in trouble,[br]we shouldn't be pushing them away,

0:06:35.320,0:06:37.120
we should be bringing them in closer.

0:06:38.520,0:06:40.736
Education is a critical protective factor

0:06:40.760,0:06:43.320
against contact[br]with the criminal legal system.

0:06:44.400,0:06:46.816
So we should be building[br]out policies and practices

0:06:46.840,0:06:48.936
that keep girls connected[br]to their learning,

0:06:48.960,0:06:50.816
rather than pushing them away from it.

0:06:50.840,0:06:54.800
It's one of the reasons I like to say[br]that education is freedom work.

0:06:56.680,0:06:59.160
When girls feel safe, they can learn.

0:07:00.280,0:07:02.896
When they don't feel safe, they fight,

0:07:02.920,0:07:07.920
they protest, they argue,[br]they flee, they freeze.

0:07:09.120,0:07:12.336
The human brain is wired[br]to protect us when we feel a threat.

0:07:12.360,0:07:14.416
And so long as school feels like a threat,

0:07:14.440,0:07:17.176
or part of the tapestry of harm[br]in a girl's life,

0:07:17.200,0:07:19.160
she'll be inclined to resist.

0:07:19.920,0:07:23.136
But when schools become[br]locations for healing,

0:07:23.160,0:07:25.400
they can also become[br]locations for learning.

0:07:26.720,0:07:30.456
So what does this mean for a school[br]to become a location for healing?

0:07:30.480,0:07:33.736
Well, for one thing, it means[br]that we have to immediately discontinue

0:07:33.760,0:07:38.136
the policies and practices that target[br]black girls for their hairstyles or dress.

0:07:38.160,0:07:44.096
(Applause)

0:07:44.120,0:07:48.176
Let's focus on how[br]and what a girls learns

0:07:48.200,0:07:52.056
rather than policing her body[br]in ways that facilitate rape culture

0:07:52.080,0:07:55.080
or punish children for the conditions[br]in which they were born.

0:07:56.960,0:08:00.760
This is where parents and the community[br]of concerned adults can enter this work.

0:08:01.680,0:08:03.496
Start a conversation with the school

0:08:03.520,0:08:06.216
and encourage them[br]to address their dress code

0:08:06.240,0:08:09.376
and other conduct-related policies[br]as a collaborative project,

0:08:09.400,0:08:11.336
with parents and students,

0:08:11.360,0:08:14.560
so as to intentionally avoid[br]bias and discrimination.

0:08:15.480,0:08:16.696
Keep in mind, though,

0:08:16.720,0:08:19.936
that some of the practices[br]that harm black girls most are unwritten.

0:08:19.960,0:08:24.256
So we have to continue to do the deep,[br]internal work to address the biases

0:08:24.280,0:08:28.936
that inform how, when and whether we see[br]black girls for who they actually are,

0:08:28.960,0:08:30.560
or what we've been told they are.

0:08:32.159,0:08:34.256
Volunteer at a school

0:08:34.280,0:08:39.096
and establish culturally competent[br]and gender responsive discussion groups

0:08:39.120,0:08:42.096
with black girls,[br]Latinas, indigenous girls

0:08:42.120,0:08:45.576
and other students who experience[br]marginalization in schools

0:08:45.600,0:08:46.856
to give them a safe space

0:08:46.880,0:08:49.920
to process their identities[br]and experiences in schools.

0:08:51.000,0:08:53.736
And if schools are to become[br]locations for healing,

0:08:53.760,0:08:55.936
we have to remove police officers

0:08:55.960,0:08:58.536
and increase the number[br]of counselors in schools.

0:08:58.560,0:09:04.640
(Applause)

0:09:06.520,0:09:08.920
Education is freedom work.

0:09:10.160,0:09:14.000
And whatever our point of entry is,[br]we all have to be freedom fighters.

0:09:15.160,0:09:17.056
The good news is that there are schools

0:09:17.080,0:09:19.656
that are actively working[br]to establish themselves

0:09:19.680,0:09:23.400
as locations for girls[br]to see themselves as sacred and loved.

0:09:24.360,0:09:29.496
The Columbus City Prep School for Girls[br]in Columbus, Ohio, is an example of this.

0:09:29.520,0:09:32.256
They became an example[br]the moment their principal declared

0:09:32.280,0:09:35.840
that they were no longer going to punish[br]girls for having "a bad attitude."

0:09:37.320,0:09:39.776
In addition to building --

0:09:39.800,0:09:42.776
Essentially, what they did[br]is they built out a robust continuum

0:09:42.800,0:09:46.256
of alternatives to suspension,[br]expulsion and arrest.

0:09:46.280,0:09:50.336
In addition to establishing[br]a restorative justice program,

0:09:50.360,0:09:52.856
they improved their[br]student and teacher relationships

0:09:52.880,0:09:55.816
by ensuring that every girl[br]has at least one adult on campus

0:09:55.840,0:09:58.736
that she can go to[br]when she's in a moment of crisis.

0:09:58.760,0:10:02.216
They built out spaces along the corridors[br]of the school and in classrooms

0:10:02.240,0:10:04.720
for girls to regroup,[br]if they need a minute to do so.

0:10:05.400,0:10:09.216
And they established an advisory program[br]that provides girls with an opportunity

0:10:09.240,0:10:13.456
to start every single day[br]with the promotion of self-worth,

0:10:13.480,0:10:15.640
communication skills and goal setting.

0:10:16.440,0:10:17.696
At this school,

0:10:17.720,0:10:21.336
they're trying to respond[br]to a girl's adverse childhood experiences

0:10:21.360,0:10:22.856
rather than ignore them.

0:10:22.880,0:10:25.720
They bring them in closer;[br]they don't push them away.

0:10:26.520,0:10:29.896
And as a result, their truancy[br]and suspension rates have improved,

0:10:29.920,0:10:32.936
and girls are arriving at school[br]increasingly ready to learn

0:10:32.960,0:10:35.696
because they know the teachers[br]there care about them.

0:10:35.720,0:10:36.920
That matters.

0:10:37.960,0:10:41.296
Schools that integrate the arts[br]and sports into their curriculum

0:10:41.320,0:10:44.096
or that are building out[br]tranformative programming,

0:10:44.120,0:10:47.856
such as restorative justice,[br]mindfulness and meditation,

0:10:47.880,0:10:52.616
are providing an opportunity for girls[br]to repair their relationships with others,

0:10:52.640,0:10:54.520
but also with themselves.

0:10:55.360,0:10:58.896
Responding to the lived,[br]complex and historical trauma

0:10:58.920,0:11:00.416
that our students face

0:11:00.440,0:11:04.976
requires all of us who believe[br]in the promise of children and adolescents

0:11:05.000,0:11:08.136
to build relationships,[br]learning materials,

0:11:08.160,0:11:11.736
human and financial resources[br]and other tools

0:11:11.760,0:11:16.120
that provide children with an opportunity[br]to heal, so that they can learn.

0:11:18.360,0:11:22.896
Our schools should be places where[br]we respond to our most vulnerable girls

0:11:22.920,0:11:26.520
as essential to the creation[br]of a positive school culture.

0:11:28.080,0:11:31.696
Our ability to see her promise[br]should be at its sharpest

0:11:31.720,0:11:34.576
when she's in the throws[br]of poverty and addiction;

0:11:34.600,0:11:36.976
when she's reeling[br]from having been sex-trafficked

0:11:37.000,0:11:39.576
or survived other forms of violence;

0:11:39.600,0:11:42.256
when she's at her loudest,

0:11:42.280,0:11:43.480
or her quietest.

0:11:45.280,0:11:47.776
We should be able[br]to support her intellectual

0:11:47.800,0:11:49.816
and social-emotional well-being

0:11:49.840,0:11:53.800
whether her shorts reach her knees[br]or stop mid-thigh or higher.

0:11:56.680,0:11:59.056
It might seem like a tall order in a world

0:11:59.080,0:12:01.536
so deeply entrenched[br]in the politics of fear

0:12:01.560,0:12:06.336
to radically imagine schools as locations[br]where girls can heal and thrive,

0:12:06.360,0:12:09.160
but we have to be bold enough[br]to set this as our intention.

0:12:10.400,0:12:14.296
If we commit to this notion[br]of education as freedom work,

0:12:14.320,0:12:16.616
we can shift educational conditions

0:12:16.640,0:12:20.296
so that no girl, even the most[br]vulnerable among us,

0:12:20.320,0:12:22.016
will get pushed out of school.

0:12:22.040,0:12:24.616
And that's a win for all of us.

0:12:24.640,0:12:25.896
Thank you.

0:12:25.920,0:12:31.760
(Applause)