Join us for an evening with author

Monique Couvson to discuss her book

Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools

to be held at Solid State Books on H St. NE

Tickets with, AND without a book are available here!

The “powerful” (Michelle Alexander) exploration of the harsh and harmful experiences confronting Black girls in schools, revised and updated for its tenth anniversary

On the day fifteen-year-old Diamond from the Bay Area stopped going to school 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. A decade later, Black girls continue to be the fastest growing population in the juvenile justice system.

On the tenth anniversary of its publication, Pushout, Monique Couvson’s groundbreaking book, hailed by educator Lisa Delpit as “imperative reading,” remains as urgent and necessary as ever. Couvson chronicles the experiences of Black girls across the country whose complex lives are misunderstood, highly judged—by teachers, administrators, and the justice system—and degraded by the very institutions charged with helping them flourish. Painting “a chilling picture of the plight of Black girls and women today” (The Atlantic), Couvson exposes a world of confined potential, and supports the rising movement to challenge the policies, practices, and cultural illiteracy that push countless students out of school and into unhealthy, unstable, and often unsafe futures.

This tenth-anniversary edition is truly a book “for everyone who cares about children” (The Washington Post), serving as both a call to action and a testament to the lives and futures we must protect.

MONIQUE COUVSON, Ed.D. (formerly Monique W. Morris) is an award-winning author, scholar, and documentarian with three decades of experience in the areas of education, civil rights, juvenile and criminal justice, and philanthropy. Recognized by TIME as a racial justice “Closer” in 2025 and by The Root 100 as one of the nation’s most influential African Americans in 2022, Dr. Couvson is the President and CEO of G4GC, a premier philanthropic intermediary focused on resourcing movements and organizations that center the wisdom and wellbeing of girls and gender expansive youth of color. She is a best-selling author of seven books, including the forthcoming book Girls, Unlimited: How to Invest in Our Daughters with More than Money (The New Press, 2025) and Charisma’s Turn (The New Press, 2023), which was named by the American Library Association as one the best graphic novels for teens. Dr. Couvson is an Executive Producer and co-writer of the documentary film, “PUSHOUT: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools,” which is based on two of Dr. Couvson’s books, Sing A Rhythm, Dance A Blues: Liberatory Education for Black and Brown Girls (The New Press, 2019) and Pushout: The Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools (The New Press, 2016). Her 2018 TED talk on how to stop the criminalization of Black girls in schools has received over 2 million views and been translated into 20 languages.

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