Ruth Nicole Brown is a scholar who takes action on her scholarship, which is all about Black girlhood. An associate professor of Gender and Women’s Studies and Educational Policy at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, she is inspired by the arts as “a means of self-expression and community transformation.” Brown writes poetry and is in a band; she founded and continues to co-organize Saving Our Lives Hear Our Truths (SOLHOT), which works in partnership with local Champaign-Urbana institutions (and those elsewhere). SOLHOT “transforms spaces so that they are accountable to Black girls and allows us to create a collective experience of Black girlhood that is needed so Black girls are recognized as creators with ideas about ourselves, the community, and the world that are absolutely vital to a better tomorrow.” Ruth and her husband, Getu Workenhe, fell in love in Ethiopia. They are the parents of four children, two daughters (ages 10 and 6 months) and two sons (ages 4 and 2).
See why we think Ruth Nicole Brown is a Chambana Mom to Know.
Q: What are the most important messages we can take away from your study of black girls and black women?
A: There is no one way to be a Black girl.
Due to structural inequities and multiple oppressions too many times a focus on “girls” or a focus on “Black youth” do not entertain difference and therefore unintentionally erase and disappear Black girl ideas, bodies, and possibilities.
Intergenerational creative spaces that allow Black girls to just be (meaning they engage their hearts, minds, souls, imaginatively) are full of possibilities. I’ve worked to create such a space with SOLHOT. To give a tangible example, in SOLHOT you can’t tell a Black girl to be quiet, and you cannot discipline them (unfortunately discipline default policy) and you know what happens? A transformative creative force emerges, which is very much what the book is about.
Q: What is the goal of your most recent book (published last fall)?
A: The goal of my most recent book was to conceptualize Black girlhood as a space of freedom that of course includes Black girls but is also something that extends beyond a particular category of identity.
Q: What are some ways Champaign-Urbana can incorporate some of your insights?
Saving Our Lives Hear Our Truths enjoys partnering with school and other youth serving institutions to do workshops, so if anyone is interested, please reach out.
There are many exciting businesses and cultural festivities that are internationally known in C-U. However, they do not engage (enough) Black girl/women artists, content creators, business women or even always welcome us an intentional audience, and I really think we would all be better off, if they did.
Decision makers need to ask Black girls what they need to live a full pleasurable life in C-U and implement that. Black girl and Black women decision makers with futuristic insights need more opportunities to shine. On a personal level, I’d say, if a Black girl tells you something, believe them.
Q: You went to school here as an undergrad and then came back as a professor. What is something that you miss from those days?
I love this question! I graduated from UIUC as an undergrad in 1994. I have such a nostalgia for things that are no longer here: I miss Record Service, I miss the diversity on campus, and I miss the horizontal sight lines around town.
Q: What is your family’s favorite way to spend time together in C-U (out of the house)?
Our favorite place in town is definitely Skateland! We also enjoy Curtis Orchard, Jupiter’s, the public libraries, and the Orpheum Children’s Science Museum. During the summer we go to all the parks and festivals. I really do love our park district.
Q: What would you love to see in C-U that we don’t already have?
I would love to see a teen center that is run by and for youth, a Trader Joe’s, and an Ethiopian Restaurant.
My kids would love to see a trampoline park zone, and a Chuck E Cheese (I’m less enthusiastic about this).
Q: Tell me something most people don’t know about you.
I usually write at a computer with a baby on my lap.
Editor’s Note: There will be a community-wide celebration of Ruth Nicole Brown’s latest book “Hear Our Truths: The Creative Potential of Black Girlhood” in February with multiple events. Some are more for all ages, some are more geared toward adults:
Read My Lips, Hear Our Truths! Live Readings By, For, and About Black Women and Girls
Feb. 1 at 7-8:30 p.m.
The Urbana Free Library
Black Girls Speak: More Than Sass or Silence
Feb. 10 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Bruce D. Nesbitt African American Cultural Center
51 E. Gregory Dr., Champaign
Hearing Black Girls’ Truths: Keynote Lecture by Dr. Ruth Nicole Brown
University YMCA – UIUC
1001 S. Wright St., Champaign
What We Do When We Believe Black Girls Panel Discussion
Feb. 18 7-9 p.m. The Urbana Free Library
Black Girl Genius Hip Hop Concert
Feb. 26 at 9 p.m. Flying Machine Coffee Pizza-M, 208 W. Main St., Urbana
Feb. 27 at 2 p.m. Flying Machine Coffee Pizza-M, 208 W. Main St., Urbana
Do you know a Chambana mom or dad to know? Nominate him or her via our easy online form.