New York Times bestselling author Michelle Alexander joined the Penn State community for a moderated discussion Thursday night, fielding questions prepared by the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemoration Student Committee and others in attendance.
The virtual discussion revolved around the topic of Alexanderâs book The New Jim Crow, and the topics of mass incarceration and criminal justice reform.
Before the event, students Mimi Boone and Makayla Ashe said they wanted to see Alexander address racial injustice both at the national and local level in State College. Ashe (senior-applied statistics) hoped Alexander would discuss the shooting of Osaze Osagie.
Osagie was a 29-year-old Black State College resident who was shot and killed by a State College police officer on March 20, 2019. The State College police were serving a mental health warrant when Osagie, who had autism and a history of schizophrenia, allegedly ran at the officers with a knife. The officers unsuccessfully atte
On Jan. 18, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the 3/20 Coalition will hold a socially distanced event to inspire people to continue fighting for social justice "in the spirit" of