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THE CRIMINALIZATION OF BLACK GIRLS IN SCHOOLS

PUSHOUT:THE CRIMINALIZATION OF BLACK GIRLS IN SCHOOLS is a feature length documentary which takes a close look at the educational, judicial and societal disparities facing Black Girls. Inspired by the groundbreaking book of the same name by renowned scholar, Monique W. Morris, Ed.D. The documentary confronts the ways in which the misunderstanding of Black girlhood has led to excessive punitive discipline which in turn disrupts one of the most important factors in their lives, their education.

These self-paced learning videos and their guidebooks are designed for teachers of all subjects in grades 6 through 12. The sessions are intended to help you increase self-awareness, gain insights into engaging directly and appropriately with your students, master skills for enacting positive change, and provide Black girls with the best possible experiences, so that our classrooms are not only places of learning, but also places of healing and recovery.

BLACK GIRLS IN HIGH SCHOOL ARE*

more likely than their white girls to be suspended.

more likely to receive 1 or more in-school suspensions than white female students.

more likely to be restrained than white female students.

more likely to receive corporal punishment than white female students.

more likely to be arrested than white females.

more likely to be referred to law enforcement than white females.

*SOURCE: Discipline Data for Girls in US Public Schools, Department of Education office for Civil Rights, 2018

THIS HAS TO CHANGE, OUR GIRLS DESERVE MORE.

Meet the five girls featured in the film. Learn how they overcame challenges, how they are doing now, and how their parents, teachers, and mentors are standing with them.

“I didn’t know what to do, there is so much rage building in me.”

“Why not go to heaven now? I didn’t want to be here.”

“I really wondered why they would treat me like this. What’s wrong with me? 

“I wasn’t fighting for myself, I was fighting because I wanted to be loved.”

“They gave me support, support didn’t nobody else want to give me.”

FILM CREDITS

A Women in the Room Productions | A Film By Monique Morris & Jacoba Atlas PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls In Schools. Music By, Climbing Poetree; Edited By, Virginie Danglades; Director of Photography, Clare Major; Additional Photography, Shanlee Alvarez; Executive Producers, Jacoba Atlas, Monique W. Morris, Denise Pines; Supervising Producer, Lia Dosik Carney. Written By Monique W. Morris & Jacoba Atlas. Directed by Jacoba Atlas.