A Conversation with Melina Abdullah

Melina Abdullah is a womanist scholar-activist who sees her role in the academy as intrinsically linked to struggles for the liberation of oppressed people. She spearheaded the effort to make ethnic studies a requirement in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Among the original organizers who convened to form Black Lives Matter, she serves as a Los Angeles chapter lead and contributes to the national leadership.

Abdullah has been recognized as one of the 10 most influential Los Angeles leaders by LA Weekly, as Urban Girl of the Year by 2UrbanGirls, and as one of the 15 Fiercest Sisters of 2015 by Fierce. She has appeared on MSNBC, CNN, TV One, ABC, PBS, KTLA, KCET, BET, Free Speech TV, Al Jazeera and the podcast Lovett or Leave It. She is also featured in the Academy Award–nominated documentary 13th and the films When Justice Isn’t Just and Justice or Else. Abdullah is a professor and chair of Pan-African Studies at California State University, Los Angeles.

Admission is free.