Kimberlé Crenshaw is awarded the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal
UCLA School of Law distinguished professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, one of the nation’s most renowned scholars and thought leaders in civil rights law and policy, has received the W.E.B. Du Bois Medal from the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University.
The W.E.B. Du Bois award is Harvard’s highest honor in the field of African and African American studies. It recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to African American history, studies and culture. Other recipients this year included musician and actor Ice T, filmmaker Spike Lee and actor LeVar Burton.
At the Oct. 1 awards ceremony, Crenshaw recounted her participation in student protests when she attended Harvard Law School. She told the audience of more than 300 academics, alumni and students to stand up against institutional attacks on knowledge and education. “We have to fight against the selective use of ‘comfort’ to suppress uncomfortable conversations,” she said.
Crenshaw holds the Promise Institute Chair in Human Rights at UCLA Law. She is known for coining the term “intersectionality” — the way in which the effects of racism, sexism and other forms of discrimination combine and overlap to create unique experiences. She is also a founder and leader of critical race theory. In 2000, she was one of the faculty members who launched UCLA Law’s trailblazing Critical Race Studies program.
As the co-founder and executive director of the African American Policy Forum think tank, Crenshaw has led grassroots movements and campaigns such as #SayHerName, the Freedom to Learn Network and the Critical Race Theory Summer School.
An earlier version of this story ran in the UCLA Newsroom.