ETHS Hosts FAN Event with Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw

In 2026, Critical Race Theory and intersectionality are among the most talked about and most misunderstood topics of the day. To truly understand where these ideas came from, you must start with the woman who founded them: Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw. Distinguished Professor of Law at UCLA and Columbia Law Schools, Crenshaw is widely recognized for coining and developing both CRT and intersectionality. Her new book, Backtalker: An American Memoir, is the powerful and intimate story of how a spunky little girl from Canton, OH came up with a new way to look at the world and forever changed the way we talk about race, gender, and social justice. The examples from her own life, recounted with warmth, humor, and insight, illuminate how intersectionality emerged not from abstract ideas, but from lived experience.

Evoking each time and place like a gifted novelist, Backtalker takes readers from a Canton elementary school classroom to the back door of a Harvard club, and behind the scenes of some of the most consequential moments in race and gender over the last half century: the Anita Hill hearings, the launch of My Brother’s Keeper, the movement against police violence.

In a moment when her life’s work faces erasure and disinformation, Crenshaw’s story is both a call to action and a lesson in how understanding the past charts a course for the future.

Crenshaw will be in conversation with Beth E. Richie, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Criminology, Law, and Justice and Black Studies and the Inaugural Chair in Social Sciences and the Humanities at The University of Illinois at Chicago. The emphasis of her scholarly and activist work has been on the ways that race/ethnicity and social position affect the experience of violence and criminalization, focusing on the experiences of Black women and gender non-conforming people.

Guests should plan to arrive at least 15 minutes before the start of the event to find parking and seats. Accessible seating is available in the auditorium. Parking is available in Lot 1 across from the main entrance, off of Dodge Avenue, or in the lots behind the high school. Parking is also available along Dodge Avenue according to posted City of Evanston signs.

The May 8 event will be recorded and available on FAN’s website and YouTube channel. For more information, including a list of sponsors for the event, visit the Family Action Network website.