Duchess Harris, Ph.D., J.D., is a Professor of American Studies at Macalester College, author of Black Feminist Politics from Kennedy to Trump, and co-editor with Bruce D. Baum of Racially Writing the Republic: Racists, Race Rebels, and Transformations of American Identity.
Duchess Harris was a featured presenter at this year's Momentum Summit along with speakers like CNN host Van Jones and Nicole Austin-Hillery, president & CEO, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc. Since 2021, PEN America has documented nearly 23,000 school book bans nationwide. Harris, the DeWitt Wallace Professor of American Studies at Macalester College in Minnesota, has seen multiple books she’s written challenged or restricted. Four of her titles appeared on a list
In May, political science professor Julie Dolan and American studies professor Duchess Harris led fourteen students on a trip to Northern Ireland as the culmination of their crosslisted short-term study away course, Gender and Transnational Politics: A Comparison of Northern Ireland and the Southern United States. The group visited Dublin, Belfast, and Londonderry to explore the civil rights struggle in the United Kingdom and its striking parallels to the civil rights movemen
Nonfiction books are increasingly being banned in public schools, according to a new PEN America report. The organization found that 3,743 unique titles were removed from school libraries during the 2024–2025 school year. Of those, 29% were nonfiction titles, up from 14% the year before. Male Privilege (Being Female in America) by Duchess Harris and Heidi Deal, and Growing Up LGBTQ by Duchess Harris and Rebecca Rowell, were cited as examples. >> Read the story now!
