Pushout

The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools

By: Monique W. Morris

Narrated by: Kristyl Dawn Tift

Fifteen-year-old Diamond stopped going to school the day she was expelled for lashing out at peers who constantly harassed and teased her for something everyone on the staff had missed: she was being trafficked for sex. After months on the run, she was arrested and sent to a detention center for violating a court order to attend school. Just 16 percent of female students, Black girls make up more than one-third of all girls with a school-related arrest.

The first trade book to tell these untold stories, Pushout exposes a world of confined potential and supports the growing movement to address the policies, practices, and cultural illiteracy that push countless students out of school and into unhealthy, unstable, and often unsafe futures. For four years, Monique W. Morris chronicled the experiences of Black girls across the country whose intricate lives are misunderstood, highly judged - by teachers, administrators, and the justice system - and degraded by the very institutions charged with helping them flourish. Morris shows how, despite obstacles, Black girls still find ways to breathe remarkable dignity into their lives in classrooms, juvenile facilities, and beyond.

©2016 Monique W. Morris (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"Morris's work, buttressed by appalling statistics and scholarly studies, is supplemented by two useful appendices...and a list of community resources." (Publishers Weekly)

Overview

The story was very informative and sad. I did not like the reading by the author, as I wish she would have had someone else do the voices of the girls. But the book was good and I'm going to be doing a screaming in my community.

Insightful and informative

As a father of 2 young black girls this book helps me help them deal with the outside worlds influences and how they can and will be perceived in life. The Indian was good often repetitive but relevant. Appendix A is a must use guide.

Wish I Had Found this sooner

Loved the detailed personal narratives and facts. My favorite however were the suggestions and proposed solutions from each individual standpoint in the end. This should be a must read even in 2025.

Necessary read for all educators

This should be standard reading for all educators, especially those serving disenfranchised youth. I will also be buying the printed version.

I understand now

I understand so much about why Black girls do things and behave certain ways which will make me a more empathetic educator. This book made me want to go do something about all of the injustice right now!

EXCELLENT

This book is absolutely amazing!! Knowledge is power and it’s true that most people don’t know the truth. Thank you for bringing truth to power in this reading. JUDGING and MISUNDERSTANDING ANY person is tragic. What an amazing educational book. It taught me things I had not realized. Thank you!!

The Hand that Rocks the Cradle Rules the World

Pushout was a powerful read! Many of our Black girls are ostracized, misunderstood and ultimately pushed out. Ms. Morris speaks to this crisis with knowledge, empathy and solutions. So much is expected of girls, but how will they learn if they’re not in a positive space mentally, socially or academically? I highly recommend this book to parents, educators, community partners and anyone that has a desire to help our girls!

loved it!

I couldn't stop listening! As a teacher this book males me want to help all these girls get the education they deserve!

Wonderful Narration and Perspective

The narration is crisp AND rich, qualities that are sometimes considered incongruent with African American voices. Tift's work is precise and lends very well to increasing the speed of play back. I listen to audio at up to 3x normal and Tift is clearly understandable and heartfelt.

Morris' work is vital to confronting America's creation of the lens through which we see African American girls. As the African American people are continuously omitted from the public school storytelling of "American History," African American girls are viewed absent of the context of Ida B Wells, Maggie Lena Walker and hundreds, if not thousands, of African American women and girls.

Americans are left with the exploitative lens that our original human traffickers created to justify the selling and raping of African American women and children.

I look forward to listening to Pushout numerous times to help cleanse my psyche of malicious miseducation about African American girls.
Grateful.

should be mandated in every teacher's college

this should be mandatory reading for all teachers who will be educating with even one black girl. it was great and sometimes heart breaking. it should also be used at all social service programs that serve girls of color.