Backtalker
A Memoir
Published on 5. May 2026
Book
Hardback
400 pages
978-0-241-58522-1 (ISBN)
Description
An Instant New York Times bestseller
One of most influential thinkers today, 'the woman who revolutionized feminism' (Guardian), offers a deeply engaging story of justice and power in America
When Kimberle Crenshaw was five years old in Ohio during the civil rights era, she was the only girl denied a lead role in her nursery play. Puzzled by her teacher's behaviour, she spoke up - and never stopped. That instinct to question power, to challenge what others accepted as fair, would shape not only her own life but the way we now understand race and gender.
In Backtalker, Crenshaw traces her journey from a spirited girl in Canton, Ohio to one of the most influential legal thinkers today. Through childhood lessons and painful reckonings - a boyfriend's violence in college, a back door at Harvard Law, the silencing of women in the civil rights movement - Crenshaw learned to see the patterns others missed, refusing to stay behind the lines the world drew for her.
Out of those experiences came two ideas that changed everything: intersectionality, the recognition that race, gender, and class overlap to create unique forms of discrimination; and critical race theory, the argument that racism is structural. Crenshaw's voice has since echoed through some of the most charged moments in recent history - from Anita Hill's testimony to the rise of Black Lives Matter - insisting that true justice means seeing the whole picture.
Backtalker is both a memoir of awakening and the origin story of a transformative mind. Crenshaw's story is ultimately about fairness and power - and the enduring battle for America's soul.
One of most influential thinkers today, 'the woman who revolutionized feminism' (Guardian), offers a deeply engaging story of justice and power in America
When Kimberle Crenshaw was five years old in Ohio during the civil rights era, she was the only girl denied a lead role in her nursery play. Puzzled by her teacher's behaviour, she spoke up - and never stopped. That instinct to question power, to challenge what others accepted as fair, would shape not only her own life but the way we now understand race and gender.
In Backtalker, Crenshaw traces her journey from a spirited girl in Canton, Ohio to one of the most influential legal thinkers today. Through childhood lessons and painful reckonings - a boyfriend's violence in college, a back door at Harvard Law, the silencing of women in the civil rights movement - Crenshaw learned to see the patterns others missed, refusing to stay behind the lines the world drew for her.
Out of those experiences came two ideas that changed everything: intersectionality, the recognition that race, gender, and class overlap to create unique forms of discrimination; and critical race theory, the argument that racism is structural. Crenshaw's voice has since echoed through some of the most charged moments in recent history - from Anita Hill's testimony to the rise of Black Lives Matter - insisting that true justice means seeing the whole picture.
Backtalker is both a memoir of awakening and the origin story of a transformative mind. Crenshaw's story is ultimately about fairness and power - and the enduring battle for America's soul.
Reviews / Votes
Backtalker is a must read ... The inspiring life of the Black American activist and legal scholar who changed the way the world thinks about race ... hers is not only a life well lived, but one worth learning about * Guardian * Backtalker charts Crenshaw's extraordinary journey from precocious child to renowned public intellectual ... A rousing call to see the story of the future as one in which 'the spirit of freedom was nurtured by talking back' -- Colin Grant * The New York Times * Crenshaw frames her life and her remarkably influential career as one long fight against various forms of exclusion and unfairness ... The reasonable conclusions of a clear-eyed intellectual who simply refused to shut up about what she witnessed and experienced -- Kelefa Sanneh * The New Yorker * A beautifully written, compelling and insightful memoir from the extraordinary intellectual, activist and scholar who has shaped critical discourse in America. A moving and powerful read -- Bryan Stevenson A searing, defiant and deeply inspiring memoir for our times from one of America's greatest architects of justice -- V (formerly Eve Ensler) It is rare that creators of movements that shake the world use the memoir form to honestly and precisely explore how their will to change was created. Kimberle Crenshaw has made a fleshy piece of theory, a foundational book for this nation, a moving memoir that will continue to build on the monumental work Crenshaw has already done. We will thankfully be feeling the work of this book for generations -- Kiese Laymon Kimberle Crenshaw is one of America's most original legal thinkers, a pioneering theorist whose scholarship has transformed the way we think about race, gender, and the law. Now in Backtalker, her powerful new memoir, she reminds us of the greatest teacher of all: experience. Here is a compelling account of the making not only of a visionary mind on the front lines of change, but of the 'we' that binds us to one another in families, communities, and in the nation as a whole -- Henry Louis Gates, Jr. Her ideas have shaped generations of thinkers and activists globally. Now, with Backtalker, we come to understand the people and contexts that have given shape to Kimberle Crenshaw, her values and her sensibilities. This in-depth self-portrait reveals a woman of great depth, courage, and conviction-a truth teller and justice seeker. It is a tale as unique and compelling as its author, a much needed story for our times and beyond -- Farah Jasmine Griffin My feminist hero is Dr Kimberle Crenshaw ... We live in turbulent times, and I think it's in part thanks to Dr Crenshaw that more marginalised voices are now speaking up -- Munroe Bergdorf Kimberle Crenshaw is a national treasure -- Kerry WashingtonMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 220 mm
Width: 142 mm
Thickness: 38 mm
Weight
504 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-241-58522-1 (9780241585221)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Kimberle Crenshaw is a pioneering scholar and writer on civil rights, Black feminist legal theory, and race, racism and the law. She was a founder and has been a leader in the intellectual movement called Critical Race Theory, and is also known for introducing and developing the concept of intersectionality. She is a Distinguished Professor of Law at the University of California, Los Angeles, and the Isidor and Seville Sulzbacher Professor of Law at Columbia Law School, and is the co-founder and Executive Director of the African American Policy Forum. Crenshaw writes regularly for The New Republic, The Nation and Ms., has appeared as a commentator on media outlets including MSNBC and NPR, and hosts the podcast Intersectionality Matters!