Pushout - by Monique Couvson (Hardcover)

About the Book

2017 BCALA Honor Book in Nonfiction award winner A groundbreaking look at the lives of African American girls by a powerful advocate who has been featured on MSNBC, Ebony.com, the Brian Lehrer Show, and in Essence magazine

Book Synopsis

The "powerful" (Michelle Alexander) exploration of the harsh and harmful experiences confronting Black girls in schools, and how we can instead orient schools toward their flourishing

On the day fifteen-year-old Diamond from the Bay Area stopped going to school, she was expelled for lashing out at peers who constantly harassed and teased her for something everyone on the staff had missed: she was being trafficked for sex. After months on the run, she was arrested and sent to a detention center for violating a court order to attend school.

In a work that Lisa Delpit calls "imperative reading," Monique Couvson chronicles the experiences of Black girls across the country whose complex lives are misunderstood, highly judged--by teachers, administrators, and the justice system--and degraded by the very institutions charged with helping them flourish. Painting "a chilling picture of the plight of black girls and women today" (The Atlantic), Couvson exposes a world of confined potential and supports the rising movement to challenge the policies, practices, and cultural illiteracy that push countless students out of school and into unhealthy, unstable, and often unsafe futures.

At a moment when Black girls are the fastest growing population in the juvenile justice system, Pushout is truly a book "for everyone who cares about children" (Washington Post).

Book cover photograph by Brittsense/brittsense.com.

Review Quotes

"A powerful indictment of the cultural beliefs, policies, and practices that criminalize and dehumanize Black girls in America, coupled with thoughtful analysis and critique of the justice work that must be done at the intersection of race and gender."
--Michelle Alexander, author of The New Jim Crow

"If you ever doubted that Supremacy Crimes--those devoted to maintaining hierarchy--are rooted in both sex and race, read Pushout. Monique Morris tells us exactly how schools are crushing the spirit and talent that this country needs."
--Gloria Steinem

"This book is imperative reading, not only for educators and those in the justice system but--perhaps especially--for anyone who loves and sleeps down the hall from a young, developing African American woman."
--Lisa Delpit, author of "Multiplication Is for White People" and Other People's Children

"A dynamic call to action. Black girls' exposure to being pushed out of school and set on paths to incarceration, physical and economic insecurity, and social marginality is so movingly set forth by Morris that it can no longer be ignored. Pushout is essential reading for all who believe that Black lives matter."
--Kimberlé Crenshaw, co-editor of Critical Race Theory and co-author of the reports "Say Her Name" and "Black Girls Matter"

"At a moment when footage of institutional assaults on young Black men emerges with a horrifying regularity comes a timely and indispensable look at the often invisible oppression of girls of color. Pushout blazes with the voices of young women fighting for their dignity, safety, and the fundamental right to a future."
--Nell Bernstein, author of Burning Down the House and All Alone in the World

"Despite increased attention to the mass and over-incarceration of Black men, the plight of criminalized Black women and girls is overlooked, underreported, and underanalyzed. Finally, a compelling narrative that tells us the heartrending story of how schools are culpable in re-victimizing some of our most vulnerable citizens. This is a must-read for educators, juvenile justice officials, parents, and the entire community."
--Gloria Ladson-Billings, Kellner Family Distinguished Chair in Urban Education, University of Wisconsin-Madison

"Morris's sharp analysis and the compassionate way she contextualizes these stories will surely compel readers to take action against the injustices that Black girls experience in schools and beyond."
--Beth E. Richie, author of Arrested Justice

"A road map for educators and policymakers who want to address the unique ways in which black girls are placed in the school-to-prison pipeline."
--Erica L. Green, The New York Times

About the Author

Monique Couvson (formerly Monique W. Morris), president/CEO of Grantmakers for Girls of Color and co-founder of the National Black Women's Justice Institute, is the author of several books, including Black Stats; Sing a Rhythm, Dance a Blues; and Charisma's Turn (all from The New Press). Her work has been featured by NPR, the New York Times, MSNBC, Essence, The Atlantic, TED, the Washington Post, Education Week, and others. She lives in New York.