Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw (born May 5, 1959) is an American
civil rights advocate and a scholar of
critical race theory
Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic field focused on the relationships between Social constructionism, social conceptions of Race and ethnicity in the United States census, race and ethnicity, Law in the United States, social and political ...
. She is a professor at the
UCLA School of Law
The University of California, Los Angeles School of Law (commonly known as UCLA School of Law or UCLA Law) is the law school of the University of California, Los Angeles.
History
Founded in 1949, the UCLA School of Law is the third oldest of t ...
and
Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City.
The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...
, where she specializes in race and gender issues.
Crenshaw is known for introducing and developing intersectionality, also known as
intersectional theory, the study of how overlapping or intersecting social identities, particularly minority identities, relate to systems and structures of
oppression
Oppression is malicious or unjust treatment of, or exercise of power over, a group of individuals, often in the form of governmental authority. Oppression may be overt or covert, depending on how it is practiced.
No universally accepted model ...
, domination, or discrimination.
Her work further expands to include
intersectional feminism
Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how groups' and individuals' social and political identities result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these intersecting and overlapping factor ...
, which is a sub-category related to intersectional theory. Intersectional feminism examines the overlapping systems of oppression and discrimination that women face due to their ethnicity, sexuality, and economic background.
Early life and education
Crenshaw was born in
Canton, Ohio
Canton () is a city in Stark County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, eighth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 70,872 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Canton–Massillo ...
, on May 5, 1959,
to parents Marian and Walter Clarence Crenshaw Jr. From a young age, Crenshaw's parents encouraged her to discuss "interesting things" that she "observed in the world that day". This early training would later become the basis of her career choices later in life.
Crenshaw attended
Canton McKinley High School
McKinley Senior High School is a public high school in Canton, Ohio, United States. It is the only secondary school in the Canton City School District and has two campuses: Downtown Campus (mostly known as Early College High School or Timken H ...
. In 1981, she received a bachelor's degree in government and Africana studies from
Cornell University
Cornell University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university based in Ithaca, New York, United States. The university was co-founded by American philanthropist Ezra Cornell and historian and educator Andrew Dickson W ...
,
where she was a member of the
Quill and Dagger senior Honors' Society.
She received a
J.D. from
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
in 1984. In 1985, she received an
LL.M. from the
University of Wisconsin Law School
The University of Wisconsin Law School is the Law school in the United States, law school of the University of Wisconsin–Madison, a Public university, public research university in Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 1868, the school is guided by a ...
, where she was a
William H. Hastie Fellow and law clerk to Wisconsin Supreme Court Judge
Shirley Abrahamson.
[Ring, D. A. (2011). Crenshaw, Kimberlé Williams 1959–. In M. Mazurkiewicz (Ed.), Contemporary Black Biography (Vol. 88, pp. 30-32). Gale]
/ref>
Career
After completing her LL.M., Crenshaw joined the faculty of the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law, UCLA School of Law in 1986. She is a founder of the field of critical race theory
Critical race theory (CRT) is an academic field focused on the relationships between Social constructionism, social conceptions of Race and ethnicity in the United States census, race and ethnicity, Law in the United States, social and political ...
and a lecturer on civil rights
Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...
, critical race studies, and constitutional law
Constitutional law is a body of law which defines the role, powers, and structure of different entities within a state, namely, the executive, the parliament or legislature, and the judiciary; as well as the basic rights of citizens and, in ...
. At UCLA School of Law, as of 2017, she teaches four classes, Advanced Critical Race Theory, Civil Rights, Intersectional Perspectives on Race, Gender and the Criminalization of Women & Girls, and Race, Law and Representation.
In 1991, Crenshaw assisted the legal team representing Anita Hill at the U.S. Senate confirmation hearings for Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served since 1991 as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. President George H. W. Bush nominated him to succeed Thurgood Marshall. Afte ...
. In both 1991 and 1994, she was elected professor of the year by matriculating students. In 1995, Crenshaw was appointed full professor at Columbia Law School
Columbia Law School (CLS) is the Law school in the United States, law school of Columbia University, a Private university, private Ivy League university in New York City.
The school was founded in 1858 as the Columbia College Law School. The un ...
, where she is the founder and director of the Center for Intersectionality and Social Policy Studies, established in 2011. At Columbia Law School, Kimberlé W. Crenshaw's courses include an intersectionalities workshop and an intersectionalities workshop centered on civil rights.
In 1996, Crenshaw became the co-founder and executive director of the African American Policy Forum (AAPF), a think tank focused on "dismantling structural inequality" and "advancing and expanding racial justice, gender equality, and the indivisibility of all human rights, both in the U.S. and internationally." Its mission is to build bridges between scholarly research and public discourse in addressing inequality and discrimination. Crenshaw has been awarded the Fulbright Chair for Latin America in Brazil, and in 2008, she was awarded an in-residence fellowship at the Center of Advanced Behavioral Studies at Stanford.
In 2001, Crenshaw wrote the background paper on Race and Gender Discrimination for the United Nations World Conference on Racism, helped to facilitate the addition of gender in the WCAR Conference Declaration, served as a member of the National Science Foundation
The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...
's Committee to Research Violence Against Women and the National Research Council panel on Research on Violence Against Women. Crenshaw was a member of the Domestic Strategy Group at the Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute is an international nonprofit organization founded in 1949 as the Aspen Institute for Humanistic Studies. It is headquartered in Washington, D.C., but also has a campus in Aspen, Colorado, its original home.
Its stated miss ...
from 1992 to 1995, the Women's Media Initiative, and is a regular commentator on NPR
National Public Radio (NPR) is an American public broadcasting organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It serves as a national Radio syndication, syndicator to a network of more ...
's ''The Tavis Smiley Show
Tavis Smiley (; born September 13, 1964) is an American talk show host and author. Smiley was born in Gulfport, Mississippi, and grew up in Bunker Hill, Indiana. After attending Indiana University, he worked during the late 1980s as an aide to ...
''.
In 2020, Crenshaw received an honorary doctorate from KU Leuven
KU Leuven (Katholieke Universiteit Leuven) is a Catholic research university in the city of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. Founded in 1425, it is the oldest university in Belgium and the oldest university in the Low Countries.
In addition to its mai ...
. She has authored several books and articles and continues to publish. Crenshaw's book with Luke Charles Harris and George Lipsitz, ''The Race Track: How the Myth of Equal Opportunity Defeats Racial Justice'', is scheduled for publication December 2025.
Intersectionality
Origins of the concept
In 1989, Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality
Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how groups' and individuals' social and political identities result in unique combinations of discrimination and privilege. Examples of these intersecting and overlapping factor ...
in her essay "Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Anti-discrimination Doctrine Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics" as a way to help explain the oppression of African-American women. The idea of intersectionality existed long before Crenshaw coined the term but was not widely recognized until Crenshaw's work. Black feminist trailblazers like Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth (; born Isabella Bomefree; November 26, 1883) was an American Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist and activist for African-American civil rights, women's rights, and Temperance movement, alcohol temperance. Truth was ...
in her 1851 speech "Ain't I a Woman?
"Ain't I a Woman?" is a speech, generally considered to have been delivered extemporaneously, by Sojourner Truth (1797–1883), born into slavery in the state of New York. Some time after gaining her freedom in 1827, she became a well known an ...
" and Anna Julia Cooper
Anna Julia Cooper ( Haywood; August 10, 1858February 27, 1964) was an American author, educator, sociologist, speaker, Civil rights movement#Background, Black liberation activist, Black feminist leader, and one of the most prominent African Ame ...
in her 1892 essay "The Colored Woman's Office" exemplified the ideas of intersectionality before intersectionality came to be. Crenshaw's inspiration for the theory started while she was still in college at Cornell University when she realized that the gender aspect of race was extremely underdeveloped.
Crenshaw's arguments
Crenshaw's focus on intersectionality is how the law responds to issues that include gender and race discrimination. The particular challenge in law is that anti-discrimination laws look at gender and race separately. Consequently, African-American women and other women of color who experience overlapping forms of discrimination are left with no justice. Anti-discrimination laws and the justice system's attempt to remedy discrimination
Discrimination is the process of making unfair or prejudicial distinctions between people based on the groups, classes, or other categories to which they belong or are perceived to belong, such as race, gender, age, class, religion, or sex ...
are limited and operate on a singular axis, only accounting for one identity at a time. A complete and understandable definition has not been written in the law; therefore, when the issues of intersectionality are presented in a court of law, if one form of discrimination cannot be proved without the other, then there is no law broken. The law defines discrimination as unfair treatment based on a certain identity. When enforcing the law, justice goes by the definition, and if discrimination cannot be proven based on a single identity, such as sex, then no crime has been committed.
Crenshaw has referred to '' DeGraffenreid v. General Motors'' in writing, interviews, and lectures. In ''DeGraffenreid v. General Motors'', a group of African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
women argued they received compound discrimination, excluding them from employment opportunities. They contended that although women were eligible for office and secretarial jobs, such positions were only offered to white women, barring African-American women from seeking employment in the company. The courts weighed the allegations of race and gender discrimination separately, finding that the employment of African-American male factory workers disproved racial discrimination, and the employment of white female office workers disproved gender discrimination. Accordingly, the court declined to consider compound discrimination and dismissed the case.
Crenshaw has also discusses intersectionality in connection to her experience as part of the 1991 legal team for Anita Hill, the woman who accused then-Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas
Clarence Thomas (born June 23, 1948) is an American lawyer and jurist who has served since 1991 as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States. President George H. W. Bush nominated him to succeed Thurgood Marshall. Afte ...
of sexual harassment. The case drew two crowds expressing contrasting views: white feminists in support of Hill and the opposing members of the African-American community that supported Clarence Thomas. The two lines of the argument focused on the rights of women and Hill's experience of being violated as a woman, on the one hand, and on the other, the appeal to forgive Thomas or turn a blind eye to his conduct due to his opportunity to become only the second African American to serve on the United States Supreme Court.
Crenshaw argued that with these two groups rising against one another during this case, Anita Hill lost her voice as a black woman. She had been unintentionally chosen to support the women's side of things, silencing her racial contribution to the issue. "It was like one of these moments where you literally feel that you have been kicked out of your community, all because you are trying to introduce and talk about the way that African American women have experienced sexual harassment and violence. It was a defining moment." "Many women who talk about the Anita Hill thing," Crenshaw adds, "they celebrate what's happened with women in general.... So sexual harassment is now recognized; what's not doing as well is the recognition of black women's unique experiences with discrimination."
Crenshaw also discussed the theory of intersectionality in a TED Talk
TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...
in October 2016. Additionally, Crenshaw delivered a keynote speech at the Women of the World festival at the Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre is an arts centre in London, England. It is adjacent to the separately owned National Theatre and BFI Southbank.
It comprises the three main performance spaces – the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Purcell R ...
in London, England, in 2016. She spoke on women of color's unique challenges in the struggle for gender equality, racial justice and well-being. In her 2016 TED Talk and keynote speech, she discussed a key challenge women of color face: police brutality. She highlighted the # SayHerName campaign aimed at uplifting the stories of black women killed by police. The focus on the victimization of Black women in the SayHerName movement is dependent on the theory of intersectionality which Crenshaw describes thus: "It's like a lazy Susan – you can subject race, sexuality, transgender identity or class to a feminist critique through intersectionality."
Since the 2010s, Crenshaw has spoken out against misinterpretations of intersectionality, saying that some have wrongfully characterized it as a blanket term for "complicated" problems, "identity politics on steroids," or "a mechanism to turn white men into new pariahs." Instead, Crenshaw characterizes intersectionality as,
My Brother's Keeper
A nationwide initiative to open up a ladder of opportunities to youth males and males of color. Crenshaw and the other participants of the African American Forum have demonstrated through multiple means of the media to express that the initiative has good intentions but perpetrates for the uplifting of youth but excludes girls and youth girls of color. She wrote an op-ed article in ''The New York Times'' emphasizing the problems with the initiative. The AAPF has started a campaign #WHYWECANTWAIT to address the realignment of the "My Brothers Keeper" initiative to include all youth boys, girls, and those girls and boys of color. The movement has received much support from all over, letters signed by men of color, letters signed by women of color, and letters signed by allies that believe in the cause.
In an interview on the ''Laura Flanders Show,'' Crenshaw expressed that the program was introduced as response to the widespread grief from the African-American community after the acquittal of George Zimmerman
George Michael Zimmerman (born October 5, 1983) is an American man who fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American, in Sanford, Florida, on February 26, 2012. On July 13, 2013, he was acquitted of second-degree murder in '' F ...
in the case of his shooting and killing of Trayvon Martin
On the evening of February 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida, United States, George Zimmerman fatally shot Trayvon Martin, a 17-year-old African-American, who was visiting his father while suspended from his Miami-area school.
Zimmerman, a 28-yea ...
, an unarmed African-American teenage boy. She describes the program as a "feel-good" and fatherly initiative but does not believe that it is a significant or structural program that will help fight the rollback of civil rights; the initiative will not provide the kinds of things that will really make a difference. She believes that because women and girls of color are a part of the same communities and disadvantages as the underprivileged males that are focused on the initiative, in order to make it an effective program for the communities, it needs to include all members of the community, girls and boys alike.
* #Why we can't wait: Women of Color Urging Inclusion in "My Brother's Keeper"
* June 17, 2014 – a letter from more than 1000 girls and women of color
The letter is signed by women of all ages and a variety of backgrounds, including high-school teens, professional actors, civil rights activists, and university professors commending President Obama and the efforts of the White House, private philanthropy, and social justice organizations, while also urging the inclusion of young women and girls. The realignment would be essential "to reflect the values of inclusion, equal opportunity and shared fate that has propelled our historic struggle for racial justice moving forward".
* May 30, 2014 – a letter of 200 Concerned Black Men and Other Men of Color calling for the Inclusion of Women and Girls in "My Brothers Keeper"
The letter is signed by a multitude of diverse men with different lifestyles, including scholars, recently incarcerated, taxi drivers, pastors, college students, fathers of sons, fathers of daughters and more. All the men believe that the girls within the communities where these men share homes, schools, and recreational areas share a fate with one another and that the initiative is lacking in focus if that focus does not include both genders.
Influence
Crenshaw is known for establishing the concept of intersectionality, which examines how race, class, gender, and other characteristics overlap and compound to explain systemic discrimination and inequality in society. Crenshaw has served as a leader and activist on civil rights, race, intersectionality, and the law throughout United States and globally. Crenshaw's work on intersectionality was influential in drafting the equality clause in the Constitution of South Africa. In 2001, Crenshaw wrote a paper on Race and Gender discrimination for the United Nation's World Conference on Racism which was leading in creating policy that benefiting minority groups globally. Additionally, Crenshaw advocated for the inclusion of gender in the WCAR conference.
Since the 2010s, Crenshaw has advocated for the # SayHerName movement. She co-authored (with Andrea Ritchie) ''Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women'', documenting and drawing attention to Black women victims of police brutality and anti-Black violence in the United States. Additionally, Crenshaw attended the Women of the World festival, which took place from 8–13 March 2016 at the Southbank Centre
Southbank Centre is an arts centre in London, England. It is adjacent to the separately owned National Theatre and BFI Southbank.
It comprises the three main performance spaces – the Royal Festival Hall, Queen Elizabeth Hall, and Purcell R ...
in London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, where she delivered a keynote speech on the unique challenges facing women of color, a key challenge being police brutality against Black women. She promoted the # SayHerName campaign, aimed at uplifting the stories of Black women killed by the police.
In 2017, Crenshaw gave an hour-long lecture to a maximum-capacity crowd of attendees at Rapaporte Treasure Hall at Brandeis University
Brandeis University () is a Private university, private research university in Waltham, Massachusetts, United States. It is located within the Greater Boston area. Founded in 1948 as a nonsectarian, non-sectarian, coeducational university, Bra ...
. She explained the role intersectionality plays in modern-day society. After a three-day celebration of her work, University President Ron Liebowitz presented Crenshaw with the Toby Gittler award at a ceremony following the lecture. That same year, Crenshaw was invited to moderate a Sexual Harassment Panel hosted by Women in Animation and The Animation Guild, Local 839. Crenshaw discussed the history of harassment in the workplace and transitioned the discussion to how it plays a role in today's work environments. The other panelists with Crenshaw agreed that there had been many protective measures placed to combat sexual harassment in the workplace. However, many issues remain to be resolved for a complete settlement of the problem at hand.
In 2021, Crenshaw was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
for her innovative work and accomplishments in pioneering intersectionality, civil rights, critical race theory, and the law.
Publications
Books
* ''Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement'', May 1, 1996. A compilation of some of the most important writings that formed and sustained the critical race theory (CRT) movement. The book includes articles from Derrick Bell, Richard Delgado, Mari Matsuda, Anthony Cook, Duncan Kennedy, Gary Peller, Kimberlé Crenshaw, and others. All of the articles add something to CRT, and read independently, add significant portions to the CRT movement.
* ''Words that Wound: Critical Race Theory, Assaultive Speech and the First Amendment,'' 1993.
* ''The Race Track: Understanding and Challenging Structural Racism'', July 30, 2013
* ''Reaffirming Racism: The faulty logic of Colorblindness, Remedy and Diversity'', 2013
* ''Black Girls Matter: Pushed Out, Over Policed and Under Protected''. 2016. A report based on new reviews of national data and personal interviews with young women in Boston and New York.
* ''Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics and Violence against Women of Color,'' January 25, 2010. Crenshaw is responding to the tendency within identity politics to overlook or silence intra-group differences, a dynamic repeated throughout anti-racist and feminist movements to the detriment of Black women. She explores the simultaneously raced and gendered dimensions of violence against women of color (looking specifically at responses to domestic violence and rape) to draw attention to how the specificity of Black women's experiences of violence is ignored, overlooked, misrepresented, and/or silenced. Crenshaw focuses on both the structural and political aspects of intersectionality with regard to rape and domestic abuse. She uses this analysis of violence against women of color to highlight the importance of intersectionality and of engaging with issues like violence against women through an intersectional lens.
* ''On Intersectionality: Essential Writings of Kimberlé Crenshaw,'' September 24, 2015. Forthcoming. Essays and articles that help define the concept of intersectionality. Crenshaw provides insight from the Central Park jogger, Anita Hill's testimony against now Supreme Court justice Clarence Thomas and other significant matters of public interest.
* ''Seeing Race Again: Countering Colorblindness across the Disciplines'' (edited by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, Luke Charles Harris, Daniel Martinez HoSang, and George Lipsitz, University of California Press, 2019)
* ''The Race Track: How the Myth of Equal Opportunity Defeats Racial Justice'' (with Luke Charles Harris & George Lipsitz), December 2025. ''The Race Track'' dispenses with the myth of post-racial America, explaining not only why race matters more than ever but also twenty-first-century solutions to racial injustice. The book will provide a framework for understanding how and why structural racism survives in the present.
* ''#SayHerName: Black Women’s Stories of State Violence and Public Silence'' (by Kimberlé Crenshaw and African American Policy Forum, Foreword by Janelle Monáe), Haymarket Books, July 2023. Centering Black women's experiences in police violence and gender violence discourses sends the powerful message that, in fact, all Black lives matter and that the police cannot kill without consequence. This is a powerful story of Black feminist practice, community-building, enablement, and Black feminist reckoning.
Articles
* "Traffic at the Crossroads: Multiple Oppressions" in the 2003 anthology '' Sisterhood Is Forever: The Women's Anthology for a New Millennium'', edited by Robin Morgan
Robin Morgan (born January 29, 1941) is an American poet, writer, activist, journalist, lecturer and former child actor. Since the early 1960s, she has been a key Radical feminism, radical feminist member of the American Feminist movement, Wom ...
.
* Say Her Name: Resisting Police Brutality Against Black Women (with Andrea J. Ritchie, Rachel Anspach, Rachel Gilmer, Luker Harris, Columbia Law School, 2015)
* How Colorblindness Flourished in the Age of Obama, in ''Seeing Race Again: Countering Colorblindness across the Disciplines'' (edited by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, Luke Charles Harris, Daniel Martinez HoSang, and George Lipsitz, University of California Press, 2019)
* Unmasking Colorblindness in the Law: Lessons from the Formation of Critical Race Theory, in ''Seeing Race Again: Countering Colorblindness across the Disciplines'' (edited by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, Luke Charles Harris, Daniel Martinez HoSang, and George Lipsitz, University of California Press, 2019).
* An Intersectional Critique of Tiers of Scrutiny: Beyond "Either/Or" Approaches to Equal Protection (with Devon W. Carbado), 129 ''The Yale Law Journal Forum'' 108 (2019).
* We Still Have not Learned from Anita Hill's Testimony, 26 ''UCLA Women's Law Journal'' 17 (2019).
* Race Liberalism and the Deradicalization of Racial Reform, 130 ''Harvard Law Review'' 2298 (2017).
* Toward a Field of Intersectionality Studies: Theory, Applications, and Praxis (with Sumi Cho and Leslie McCall), 38 (4) ''Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society'' 785 (2013).
* Keeping Up With Jim Jones: Pioneer, Taskmaster, Architect, Trailblazer, 2013 ''Wisconsin Law Review'' 703 (2013).
* From Private Violence to Mass Incarceration: Thinking Intersectionally About Women, Race, and Social Control, 59 ''UCLA Law Review'' 1418 (2012).
* Race, Reform and Retrenchment: Transformation and Legitimation in Antidiscrimination Law, 12 ''German Law Review'' 247 (2011).
* Twenty Years of Critical Race Theory: Looking Back to Move Forward, 43 ''Connecticut Law Review'' 1253–1352 (2011).
* Close Encounters of Three Kinds: On Teaching Dominance, Feminism, and Intersectionality, 46 ''Tulsa Law Review'' 151–89 (2010). Symposium: Catharine MacKennon.
* Framing Affirmative Action, 105 ''Michigan Law Review First Impressions'' 123 (2007).
* A Black Feminist Critique of Antidicrimination Law, in ''Philosophical Problems in the Law'', 339–343, 4th ed. (edited by David M. Adams, Wadsworth, 2005).
* The First Decade: Critical Reflections, or "A Foot in the Closing Door", 49 ''UCLA Law Review'' 1343–72 (2002).
* Opening Remarks: Reclaiming Yesterday's Future, 47 ''UCLA Law Review'' 1459–65 (2000).
* Playing Race Cards: Constructing a Pro-active Defense of Affirmative Action, 16 ''National Black Law Journal'' 196–214 (1998).
* Foreword, in ''Black Men on Race, Gender and Sexuality: A Critical Reader'' (edited by Devon W. Carbado, New York University Press, 1999).
* The Contradictions of Mainstream Constitutional Theory (with Gary Peller), 45 ''UCLA Law Review'' 1683–1715 (1998). Symposium: Voices of the People: Essays on Constitutional Democracy In Memory of Professor Julian N. Eule.
* Color-blind Dreams and Racial Nightmares: Reconfiguring Racism in the Post-Civil Rights Era, in ''Birth of A Nation'hood: Gaze, Script and Spectacle in the O.J. Simpson Trial'' (edited by Toni Morrison and Claudia Brodsky LaCour, Pantheon Books, 1997).
* Panel Presentation on Cultural Battery, 25 ''University of Toledo Law Review'' 891–901 (1994).
* Beyond Racism and Misogyny: Black Feminism and 2 Live Crew, in ''Words That Wound: Critical Race Theory, Assaultive Speech and the First Amendment'' (Westview, 1998). Also published in ''Feminist Social Thought: A Reader'' (edited by Diana Tietjens Meyers, Routledge (1997).
* Reel Time/Real Justice (with Gary Peller), 70 ''Denver University Law Review'' 283–96 (1993). Colloquy: Racism in the Wake of the Los Angeles Riots.
* Race, Gender, and Sexual Harassment, 65 ''Southern California Law Review'' 1467–76 (1992).
* Running from Race (Commentary on the Democrats' Discourse on Race) (with Gary Peller), 7 ''Taken'' 13–17 (1992).
* Whose Story Is It, Anyway? Feminist and Antiracist Appropriations of Anita Hill, in ''Race-ing Justice, En-gendering Power'', 402–40 (edited by Toni Morrison, Pantheon Books, 1992).
* Mapping the Margins: Intersectionality, Identity Politics, and Violence Against Women of Color, 43 ''Stanford Law Review'' 1241–99 (1991). Women of Color at the Center: Selections from the Third National Conference on Women of Color and the Law.
* Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex: A Black Feminist Critique of Antidiscrimination Doctrine, Feminist Theory and Antiracist Politics, 1989 ''University of Chicago Legal Forum'' 139–67 (1989). Reprinted in ''The Politics of Law: A Progressive Critique 195-217'' (2nd ed., edited by David Kairys, Pantheon, 1990).
* Toward a Race-Conscious Pedagogy in Legal Education (Foreword: Voting Rights: Strategies for Legal and Community Action), 11 ''National Black Law Journal'' 1–14 (1989).
* Race, Reform, and Retrenchment: Transformation and Legitimation in Antidiscrimination Law, 101 ''Harvard Law Review'' 1331–87 (1988). Reprinted in ''Critical Legal Thought: An American-German Debate'' (edited by Christian Joerges and David M. Trubek, Nomos, 1989).
Awards and honors
* 1985: William H. Hastie Fellow
* 1991: Professor of the Year, UCLA School of Law
* 1994: Professor of the Year, UCLA School of Law
* 2007; Fulbright
The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...
Chair for Latin America in Brazil
* 2008: recipient of Alphonse Fletcher Fellowship
* 2008: fellow, Center for Advanced Behavioral Studies in the Social Sciences, Stanford University
Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...
* 2015: No. 1 Most Inspiring Feminist, ''Ms. Magazine
''Ms.'' is an American feminist magazine co-founded in 1971 by journalist and social/political activist Gloria Steinem. It was the first national American feminist magazine. The original editors were Letty Cottin Pogrebin, Mary Thom, Pat Carbine ...
''
* 2015: "Power 100" ''Ebony Magazine
''Ebony'' is a monthly magazine that focuses on news, culture, and entertainment. Its target audience is the Black-American community, and its coverage includes the lifestyles and accomplishments of influential black people, fashion, beauty, and ...
''
* 2016: Outstanding Scholar Award, Fellows of the American Bar Foundation
The American Bar Foundation (ABF) is a nonprofit research institute established in 1952 and located in Chicago, United States. The American Bar Foundation is located in the same building as Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law in do ...
(ABF)
* 2017: Gittler Prize
* 2021: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Lifetime Service Award, Association of American Law Schools
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 175 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non- ...
(AALS)
* 2021: Triennial Award, Association of American Law Schools
The Association of American Law Schools (AALS), formed in 1900, is a non-profit organization of 175 law schools in the United States. An additional 19 schools pay a fee to receive services but are not members. AALS incorporated as a 501(c)(3) non- ...
(AALS)
* 2021: Elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...
References
Sources
UCLA Law Professors: Kimberlé W. Crenshaw
* Alkalimat, Abdul (2004). ''The African American Experience in Cyberspace''. Pluto Press. .
*
External links
"Intersectionality: The Double Bind of Race and Gender"
, interview with Kimberlé Crenshaw, American Bar Association
The American Bar Association (ABA) is a voluntary association, voluntary bar association of lawyers and law students in the United States; national in scope, it is not specific to any single jurisdiction. Founded in 1878, the ABA's stated acti ...
, Spring 2004.
Dr. Kimberlé Crenshaw on Teaching Truthfully About U.S. History
from the Teach the Black Freedom Struggle online series.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crenshaw, Kimberle
1959 births
Living people
21st-century African-American academics
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