Menah Pratt, Ph.D., is the author of “Blackwildgirl: A Writer’s Journey to Take Back Her Superpower”

On Monday, May 20, from 12 – 2 p.m., Graduate, Undergraduate and Equity Affairs (GUEA) and the President’s Advisory Committee on the Status of Women’s Issues and Advocacy sub-committee will co-sponsor an exclusive conversation with Menah Pratt, Ph.D.

Dr. Pratt is the author of several publications, including her most recent work, “Blackwildgirl: A Writer’s Journey to Take Back Her Superpower.” Following a conversation with GUEA staff, she will share insights and readings from her book.

Oakland attendees can enjoy complimentary refreshments and will be entered into a drawing for a copy of “Blackwildgirl.” The event will also be livestreamed, via Zoom.

Download an event flyer (PDF)

Register here

Join us!

• What: Reading and Conversation with Author Menah Pratt
• When: May 20, 12 – 2 p.m. (PT)
• Where: UCOP Oakland, Lobby 1, and virtual, via Zoom
• Registration: Advance registration is required. Register here.

About “Blackwildgirl”

Based on 45 years of journals, poems and letters to love, “Blackwildgirl: A Writer’s Journey to Take Back Her Superpower” is a candid, raw and unconventional genre-bending autobiography. It shares the story of one woman’s lifelong journey to reclaim Blackwildgirl, her queen superpower that she was separated from as part of a childhood bargain made by her parents. “Blackwildgirl” builds on Pratt’s book about her mother’s life, “From Cotton Picking to College Professor: Lessons about Race, Class and Gender in America” (2018), winner of the American Education Studies Association Critic’s Choice Award.

This book is for anyone who wants to understand girls’ experiences as they seek to become wild women — women who are fierce and fearless, warriors for themselves and others, and want to move from invisible underground lives to those of impact and influence.

About Menah Pratt

Nationally recognized as a leader, scholar and author of four books on issues of race, class, gender, diversity, education, women’s leadership and critical race feminism, Menah Pratt, Ph.D., is vice president for strategic affairs and diversity and professor of education at Virginia Tech. Pratt has 25 years of leadership experience in higher education, including serving as chief strategy officer, chief diversity officer, university compliance officer, assistant secretary of the university, university board member, and attorney. She founded the Faculty Women of Color in the Academy National Conference (11th year) and the Black College Institute (6th year) at Virginia Tech.

She has received several national awards, including Women We Admire in Virginia, 2023; the 2023 Individual Winds of Change award by the Forum on Workplace Inclusion; the 2021 Inclusive Excellence Individual Leadership Award by the National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education; and the 2018 American Education Studies Association Critics’ Choice Award for outstanding scholarship.

Dr. Pratt has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Iowa with a major in English and minors in philosophy and African-American studies. She received her master’s degree in literary studies from the University of Iowa and a master’s degree in sociology from Vanderbilt University. She earned her doctoral and juris doctorate degrees from Vanderbilt University.

She is also a former professional tennis player and a classically trained pianist and violinist. Learn more about Menah Pratt.

For questions, contact fatima.azam@ucop.edu.

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