In the groundbreaking novel "Pushout", author Monique Morris painstakingly documents the alarming rate in which African-American girls are being suspended or “pushed out” of elementary and high schools. Patrik Henry Bass of Essence Magazine filed the following review for NY1's The Book Reader.
The poet Audre Lorde once wrote, and I paraphrase, “I have a duty to speak the truth as I see it and share not just my triumphs, not just the things that feel good, but the pain, the intense – often unmitigated pain,” that often goes dismissed and unnoticed.
In a timely new book, educator Monique Morris does just that—exposes an uncomfortable truth that demands our attention.
Indeed, no one who reads “Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools” will walk away from its thoroughly intelligent pages untouched or unmoved. For all of the significant research that supports more resources and attention is needed for boys schools, Morris argues that another equally significant narrative has shifted to the margins in the talking points delivered by politicians, pundits, and policy makers.
In this groundbreaking work, Morris painstakingly documents the alarming rate in which African-American girls are being suspended or “pushed out” of elementary and high schools. The numbers are astounding and hit us hard. Yet, Pushout is refreshingly devoid of rote polemical talk where the messenger often overshadows the message. Instead, like a big sister or the guidance counselor we wish we had, Morris allows a range of young women to speak for themselves. One by one, these brave young women fearlessly share their stories of navigating poverty, metal detectors and book bag checks, and the Byzantine punishments that are an everyday existence in low-performing schools.
More than anything, what astounds us about “Pushout” is that this is the first time that anyone has so deeply explored this topic.
While not the last, I hope everyone truly hears what Monique Morris is trying to say.