Gender inclusion and black feminism

The Laura C. Harris Series welcomes Black feminist theorist Brittney Cooper presenting “#SayHerName: Toward a Gender Inclusive Movement for Black Lives.”

Cooper has risen to become one of the most prominent black feminist thought leaders of her generation. Also known as “Professor Crunk,” she is the co-founder of the infamous blog “Crunk Feminist Collective,” and writes at “Salon” about race and gender representations in pop culture, black feminist thought, hip-hop feminism, and racial justice. She navigates the worlds of academia and media as an assistant professor of Women’s and Gender Studies and Africana Studies at Rutgers University.

As a regular TV commentator, her appearances include “The Melissa Harris-Perry Show,” “All In With Chris Hayes,” and “Al Jazeera America.” Her work and words have been featured in nearly a dozen publications, including “The New York Times” and “New York Magazine.” In both 2013 and 2014, she was named one of The Root 100, an annual list of top black influencers. Her forthcoming book, “Race Women: Gender and the Making of a Black Public Intellectual Tradition” (University of Illinois Press), looks at black women’s thought leadership in the U.S., and makes a call to reinvigorate contemporary scholarly and popular conversations about black feminism.

Denison University’s Women’s and Gender Studies Program, in coordination with academic department and student organization partners, presents the 2016-2017 Laura C. Harris Series. The yearlong symposium will host speakers and artists to discuss the theme “Making Just Democracies?” which seeks an emergence of dialogue and action that work toward democratizing subjects and objects – natures and cultures – into a collective embrace.