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Kai Lumumba Barrow

Northeast Regional Coordinator
Critical Resistance

Kai Lumumba Barrow joined the Fellows for dinner as guest speaker on April 5, 2005. She spoke on her work in the alternative and restorative justice movements, as well as on the role of art in political change. Biography: Born at the tail end of the 1950s and raised in Chicago by activist parents, I cannot recall a time when I was not politically engaged. The culture of resistance in the 1960s and 70s—particularly the influences of Black people during this period—have had a tremendous impact on my personal and political development. Most of my work has been in the criminal justice and arts arenas. In the late 1970s, I began organizing around the issues of political prisoners in the United States and have been a member of several organizations and coalitions that focus on prisons and policing. I am presently the Northeast Regional Coordinator of Critical Resistance, a national grassroots organization that fights to end the prison industrial complex. Additionally, I am on the board of FIERCE, a NYC-based group that organizes with queer, transgendered, and homeless youth of color, and a member of Sisterfire, an arts and organizing project focused on violence against women of color.

The information listed above was provided at the time of the speaker's visit and may no longer be current.