Kimberlé Crenshaw's memoir 'Backtalker' recounts a life shaped by racial oppression but sustained by resilience. The legal scholar and activist, best known for developing the theory of intersectionality, traces her journey from a segregated Ohio childhood to becoming a leading voice in civil rights. Her story, while marked by injustice, is ultimately one of hope and determination.
Crenshaw describes 'backtalking' as her way of challenging systems that do not make sense, from being denied the role of a princess in a kindergarten play to questioning Harvard Law's lack of Black faculty. She frames this defiance as a form of survival, even when it means confronting loved ones.
The memoir details family history, including her mother's experience in the 1920s when a public pool was drained after a Black child swam in it. Later, the family's property was taken through eminent domain for a highway extension, a 'legally authorised means of stealing Black people's property,' Crenshaw writes. The compensation was far below market value.
Crenshaw's academic path took her from Cornell University to Harvard Law, where she joined protests to reinstate Derrick Bell's course and push for more Black faculty. Her legal work included studying the case of Emma DeGraffenreid, whose employment discrimination claim against General Motors was dismissed because it did not fit existing frameworks. This case helped crystallise Crenshaw's concept of intersectionality.
