In the midst of a global pandemic, "Grace", a 15-year-old Black girl was remanded to a youth detention center for failing to complete her online homework, a violation of the conditions of her probation. At an early release hearing, the judge told Grace that, "she was right where she needed to be" and was "blossoming" in detention. Thanks to advocacy and organizing, Grace is finally at home with her mother. But Grace's experience is not unique. Her case brings to light the numerous ways in which our juvenile legal system fails our girls, often opting to subject them to excessive punishment rather than provide support and resources that nurture their growth and development.
Please join the National Black Women's Justice Institute (NBWJI) and The Mentoring Center™ as we discuss the significant harm that the juvenile legal system poses to Black girls and their families and what needs to change.
As Executive Director of The National Black Women's Justice Institute, Dr. McKinney offers a strong commitment to public service, justice reform, and using research to advocate for our most vulnerable youth, families, and communities. A seasoned leader and expert in child welfare and justice system reform, Dr. McKinney leads the Institute in rigorous research and capacity building to transform the current system and promote policy change that centers and uplifts the voices and experiences of Black women, girls, and gender-expansive people who have been impacted by the criminal legal system.
As Executive Director, Ms. Snead provides expertise on the issues of youth development, juvenile justice, youth re-entry, mentoring as a violence prevention strategy, and gender- specific services and policy for boys and men of color and for systems-impacted girls and young women. She has appeared several local and national television and radio news shows, and in print media on the issues of youth violence, mentoring and gender-specific services for girls in the foster care and juvenile justice systems.
Falilah “Aisha” Bilal has worked joyously for over 30 years creating innovative, relevant evidence based strategies to transform, empower and develop individuals, systems, organizations and contemporary thought.
Ms. Bilal’s work is centered in healing practices, empowering youth, self-discovery and issues that systemically impact groups of people. Ms. Bilal specializes in the field of youth development, healing informed organizational development, and strategic fundraising consultation.
Isis Sapp-Grant is a nationally recognized expert on youth gang violence, gender-responsive programming, youth development and delinquency.
Isis’s transformation from gang leader to community leader, led her founding of the Youth Empowerment Mission (YEM) in 1998, where she served as the Executive Director until 2010. During that time Isis also created the Blossom Program for Girls, a community based gender responsive alternative program to address the very unique needs of girls and young women in crisis. Blossom became the first program in NYC to provide a safe community alternative that centered Black girls and other girls of color who would otherwise be incarcerated, expelled from school or petitioned for PINS. Isis is committed to making sure that every girl has the opportunity to blossom.
About National Black Women's Justice Institute
The National Black Women’s Justice Institute (NBWJI) aims to eliminate racial and gender disparities in the U.S. criminal legal system that are responsible for its disproportionate impact on Black women, girls, and gender-expansive people. We engage in rigorous research and capacity building in order to transform the current system and promote policy change that centers and uplifts the voices and experiences of Black women, girls, and gender-expansive people who have been impacted by the criminal legal system. We seek to dismantle the punitive paradigm driving the U.S. criminal legal system and build, in its place, pathways to healing and opportunity.
About the Mentoring Center
The Mentoring Center exists to move all youth, whatever challenges they are facing, toward healthy, successful lives, by providing support, love, and opportunities for self-mastery.
The Mentoring Center is a nationally-recognized resource that creates and influences policy; builds the capacity of others serving youth through training; and develops and disseminates Transformative Mentoring™ practices and tools.
