Kimberlé Crenshaw, Rep. Jamie Raskin Receive 2021 New Press Social Justice Awards

By: 
James Phelan
Friday, July 16, 2021

Professor Crenshaw and Congressman Raskin will be honored in New York City on November 9, 2021, at The New Press Social Justice Awards Gala

We’re pleased to announce that The New Press honored Kimberlé Crenshaw for her paradigm-shifting contributions to Critical Race Theory and Intersectionality, and Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD) for his efforts to uphold the rule of law, at The Social Justice Awards Gala on November 9, 2021, in New York City.

Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw, the influential civil rights and constitutional scholar, will receive a New Press Social Justice Award for her significant intellectual and cultural contributions to critical race theory, the analytical framework exposing the persistence of racial hierarchies embedded in U.S. legal traditions; and for intersectionality, her framework for mapping power, privilege, and disadvantage across individual political and social identities.

Despite the recent rise of critical race theory as a culture war trope, Kimberlé Crenshaw has long worked on the influential analytical framework, producing the first-ever anthology on the subject with The New Press in 1996: Critical Race Theory: The Key Writings That Formed the Movement.

Congressman Jamie Raskin (D-MD), the constitutional scholar, activist, and lead impeachment manager in the House of Representatives, will receive a New Press Social Justice Award for upholding democratic norms and the rule of law in the House’s prosecution of Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial for inciting the January 6 insurrection.

The New Press Social Justice Awards offer a pause from the busy publishing work we do year-round as we honor important champions of social justice and recognize their contributions to equity, inclusion, and justice. As an independent, public-interest publisher, our mission is to publish authors overlooked by corporate publishers, cultivate critical new voices, and mainstream ideas that reframe how we see the world. The 2021 Social Justice Awards took place at The Water Club in New York City on November 9, 2021.
 
Past Social Justice Award recipients have included Alice Walker, Bryan Stevenson, Joseph Stiglitz, Anna Deavere Smith, Toni Morrison, Harry Belafonte, Sherrilyn Ifill, Pete Seeger, and Charles M. Blow, among others.

A Media Model Built for Change

Like PBS (television) and NPR (radio), The New Press (books) operates in the public interest. Books are a vital part of the media ecosystem and happen to be ideal for driving narrative change. Why? Because books put forth cogent arguments and unlock significant media coverage; this media coverage amplifies a book’s ideas and arguments, and these new ideas allow for meaningful narrative shifts over time—often opening doors to greater inclusion, expanded notions of justice, and renewed commitments to equity. Like a force applied to a fulcrum, books leverage mass media to elevate new possibilities, and The New Press strategically publishes to generate this force.

As a leading nonprofit, public-interest publisher, The New Press commissions vital new works, shapes important ideas for mass audiences, and strives to build national platforms for activists, emerging leaders, and public intellectuals whose contributions aren’t yet widely recognized.

Help Honor Kimberlé Crenshaw and Rep. Jamie Raskin

The New Press Social Justice Awards differ from traditional galas in that they’re fun yet substantive, and involve a gathering of readers, writers, thinkers, and publishers who come together to celebrate the social impact of the art form of book publishing. The Social Justice Awards also serve a crucial annual fundraising role that sustains our public-interest publishing operations each year.

Even in today’s digital age, books continue to anchor our understanding of the world, fuel personal and political change, foster community and connection, and challenge long-held assumptions about what’s socially just, politically feasible, or historically acceptable.

Thanks for being a part of this community of individuals who care deeply about equity, inclusion, and justice.

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