United States
Brittany Packnett Cunningham is an activist, educator, writer, and leader at the intersection of culture and justice. She is an NBC News and MSNBC contributor. Brittany is a former elementary teacher, education executive and former Fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics. Harvard fellow. She was member of President Obama’s 21st Century Policing Task Force and the Ferguson Commission. Brittany’s forthcoming book, We Are Like Those Who Dream, is due to hit shelves in 2021.
Brittany has graced the cover of Essence Magazine, been listed as one of Time’s 12 New Faces of Black Leadership, and has been honored by BET, Politico Magazine, Marie Claire, The Trayvon Martin Foundation and more. She serves on the Gucci Changemakers Council and the Sephora Equity Advisors Board.
The fight for truth accountability and justice is fuel for our next guests' fire. President Obama described Brittany Packnett as a voice to make a difference for years to come. Pushing for police reform, she cofounded Campaign Zero, was a key face in the Black Lives Matter movement and established Teach for America's first civil rights agenda.
'The more you benefit from supremacy the more responsible you have to be to dismantle it,' Brittany Packnett tells Unitarian Universalists gathered in Kansas City.
Brittany Packnett is a leader in social justice and empowerment. Her work with Campaign Zero, Teach for America and Pod Save the People has influenced thousands of individuals to improve policies that affect human rights and education. Brittany Packnett encourages others to use their power and privilege to demand social change.
With Black Is The New Black, R29's Black writers spotlight 20 women who are inspiring us right now - Black women who are kicking down the doors of their fields and leaving them wide open for the rest of us.
The concept of intersectionality - referring to the complex and cumulative way different forms of discrimination like racism, sexism and classism overlap and affect people - seems have popped up relatively recently.
Serena Williams is the GOAT by all athletic standards. LeBron James has proclaimed it. Colin Kaepernick declared it. I'm very sure her daughter Olympia believes it. There is no modern athlete as awarded and credentialed as her, and if she never stepped foot on a court again, her status as the greatest of all time is, for many of us, set in stone, cast in gold, and permanently irrefutable.
Dynamic, inspiring speakers like Brittany Packnett of Teach for America and John King of the Education Trust; as well as Anu Partanen (author of The Nordic Theory of Everything), Lux Narayan (co-founder and CEO of Unmetric), and Kamili Wilson (vice president of Enterprise Initiatives at AARP) spoke hope into the room.
In the wake of the Feb. 14 school shooting in Parkland, Florida, the young survivors at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School have asked their fellow Americas to reckon with the nation's gun violence epidemic.
Thigh-High Politics is an op-ed column by Teen Vogue writer Lauren Duca that breaks down the news, provides resources for the resistance, and just generally refuses to accept toxic nonsense. At the start of 2018, I was reflecting on resolutions for progressivism and feminism, specifically: How do we create a movement that is both inclusive and accessible for those still learning?
You probably know civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. from his legendary "I Have a Dream" speech - but if that's all you know of him, you aren't getting the full story. "People don't know the true legacy of Dr. King because the truth would cause real disorder, " Brittany Packnett, an activist for racial justice, told Mic.
A Texas jury this week convicted former officer Roy Oliver for murdering 15-year-old Jordan Edwards and sentenced him to 15 years in prison. That outcome was very different from most high-profile police shootings; it's extremely rare for on-duty officers to be tried, let alone convicted.
When Stacey Abrams made history last night, she took me to church. As she stood at her victory party in Atlanta, Georgia, she invoked the words of Queen Esther, a Biblical figure often referenced in black church sermons as an exemplar of courage under fire.
DETROIT - As the sun shined on Detroit on Saturday, the halls and conference rooms of the city's Cobo Center convention hall were packed with a diverse array of women. Many had come from across the country to answer a key question that's been burning for nearly a year now: What's next?
Like many little girls, I was taught to be helpful. Boys will be boys. But girls? Girls will be nice. Girls will be gracious. Oh, and can we help you with anything else? I subconsciously brought this mindset to my career. For years, I thought saying yes was part of being a team player.
Late on Tuesday night, America was once again reminded of the power of Black women. Thanks in large part to overwhelmingly high turnout among Black voters and Black women in particular, Alabama managed to elect a pro-choice Democrat in the Bible Belt, tighten up the U.S.
In April, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the Trump administration's "zero tolerance" policy on immigration for undocumented adults who cross the border. And since the Department of Justice can't prosecute the children who try to enter the United States with their parents, they are separated for days and sometimes months.
I am not an expert on art. I cannot distinguish a painting by its artistic era, nor can I expound on the significance of a brush stroke or dramatic use of light. I know the great works of black artists because my parents made sure I did, and I know art's most famous names because that was my teachers' job.
Activist and educator Brittany Packnett has a simple question for the NFL: If peaceful protest doesn't work, then what does? "If you can't handle peaceful protest or silent protest, then what kind of protest can you handle?" Packnett asked.
The odious figure of Harvey Weinstein will always be central to the #MeToo movement. It's the expansive accusations levied against him that broke the floodgates. But, as the creation of Time's Up has demonstrated, Weinstein and Hollywood are just the beginning the entry points for a larger, previously existing and growing movement.
Every time there's a national conversation about gun violence in America, we hear the same racist dog whistles: What about black-on-black crime? What about what's happening in Baltimore? What about what's happening in Chicago? In an exclusive video op-ed for Mic, activist Brittany Packnett is crying foul on all those disingenuous shows of concern for black lives.
Brittany Packnett wants you to know that she doesn't mind if you call her an angry black woman. "I am absolutely an angry black woman," Packnett, an activist and writer, said. "You can call me that all day long. I am an angry black woman because too often we see black women going unsupported and unprotected in this country."
You probably know civil rights icon Martin Luther King, Jr. from his legendary "I Have a Dream" speech - but if that's all you know of him, you aren't getting the full story. "People don't know the true legacy of Dr. King because the truth would cause real disorder, " Brittany Packnett, an activist for racial justice, told Mic.
June 8-9, the Atlanta Convention Center was packed with young professionals and notable women from various industries who united to celebrate changes in habits and creating a new lifestyle. These phenomenal women of color included Brittany Packnett, Natasha Murphy, and Ashley Blaine Featherson. They discussed their superpowers and purpose in life while at Summit 21...
LOS ANGELES - A woman from St. Louis was honored in Los Angeles at the BET Awards for her leadership in social justice. Brittany Packnett was recognized for social justice advocacy during Sunday night's BET Awards. Packnett serves as Teach For America's Vice President of National Community Alliances where she leads partnerships and civil rights work with communities of color, according to BET.
Brett Kavanaugh's ascension to the U.S. Supreme Court is not inevitable. That was the overriding message made to hundreds of people at the latest installment of the #RiseUpforRoe tour stop in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. The nationwide tour, a project created by Demand Justice Initiative, NARAL Pro-Choice America, and Planned Parenthood Action Fund, features panel discussions about Kavanaugh's nomination to the Court.
Rodin Eckenroth/Getty Images Over 6,000 women have descended on the Los Angeles to attend this year's United State of Women summit. What once started as a day-long event held at the Obama White House in 2016, has now evolved into a massive two-day extravaganza that will explore the current state of women in 2018.
New research shows that many diverse candidates are turned off at the interview stage.
Voices from the Black Lives Matter movement and other "resistance" groups are planning to issue epic clapbacks after President Donald Trump's first State of the Union address Tuesday night. Members of Congress, gubernatorial candidates and #MeToo activists are among those headlining a handful of televised and livestream events.
While watching the video of 25-year-old Chikesia Clemons at a Waffle House in Saraland, Alabama, I realized Chikesia could have easily been me, my friends, or my cousins. The clip, which circulated on social media yesterday, shows Chikesia sitting in a chair clutching her purse, while three white male police officers surround her, yelling and leaning over her before she's wrestled to the ground with her breasts exposed.
HBO guest host Brittany Packnett warned white Republican women that they will not be protected from male oppression just because of the color of their skin. Packnett, an activist for Teach for America, made the remarks during HBO's weekly Pod Save American program.
My mother had strict rules. In high school, my curfews were earlier than all of my classmates'. Sleepovers were rare. Road trips were a nonstarter. It wasn't until I got older that I realized she wasn't punishing me; she was protecting me. She knew the world isn't safe for black girls.
In America, people will call the police on you if you wait at a Starbucks, if you ask for silverware at a Waffle House or if you play some golf at a golf course - but only if you're black.
In Vogue's September issue, Beyoncé says, "I look at the woman I was in my 20s and I see a young lady growing into confidence but intent on pleasing everyone around her." We asked 11 more women what they wish they could tell their 20-something selves.
The interconnection between the roles of educators and activists in today's political climate were evident Monday during a roundtable discussion at Howard University that featured students, former U.S. Secretary of Education Dr. John B. King, Jr. and social justice activist Brittany Packnett.
Activist, educator and writer Brittany Packnett delivered a riveting break down of intersectionality during the New Rules Summit: Women, Leadership and a Playbook for Change in September. During the conference hosted in Brooklyn by The New York Times, Packnett explained the interplay of racism and sexism and how it forces women of color to navigate in the workplace and through the world.
The odious figure of Harvey Weinstein will always be central to the #MeToo movement. It's the expansive accusations levied against him that broke the floodgates. But, as the creation of Time's Up has demonstrated, Weinstein and Hollywood are just the beginning the entry points for a larger, previously existing and growing movement.
Like many little girls, I was taught to be helpful. Boys will be boys. But girls? Girls will be nice. Girls will be gracious. Oh, and can we help you with anything else? I subconsciously brought this mindset to my career. For years, I thought saying yes was part of being a team player.
NPR's Rachel Martin speaks with educator and activist Brittany Packnett about how people can help fight racism and white supremacy in their daily lives. RACHEL MARTIN, HOST: One day after President Trump condemned the white supremacist groups who marched on Charlottesville, he changed course again and spread the blame for the violence on the counterprotesters.
Mic teamed up with 54 celebrities in an interactive project to call for monuments of Colin Kaepernick, Ida B. Wells and more. Over 50 actors, artists and creatives have teamed up with with a warm suggestion to honor black history makers in a creative and inspiring initiative.
New research shows that many diverse candidates are turned off at the interview stage.
On Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. day, we celebrate the life and legacy of a man who changed the course of history with his leadership and organizing for civil rights. We also remember that he was assassinated doing work of resistance and civil disobedience- a reality that is often forgotten in mainstream portrayals of MLK.
This is "KIPP Keynote: Brittany Packnett at KSS 2017" by KIPP Foundation😄 on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.
This is "Full Video of Deval Patrick, Brittany Packnett, Tulaine Montgomery Pathbreakers Session" by New Profit on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos...
ESSENCE's 47th anniversary cover features a dozen women who are pushing the movement forward. For the first time ever, ESSENCE honors 12 women on its cover who are blazing trails for equal rights and inclusion for Black people in America.
Rejecting the backlash against hashtag activism, Brittany Packnett defended the work of the armchair activists on Twitter and other social media who have brought needed attention to social justice issues.
As a woman, a person of color, and someone who has chosen to pursue both love and power in the name of justice, self-care is the fuel I need to persist. For me, self-care can consist of many things-personal pampering in the form of my weekly nail appointments, Game of Thrones marathons, or vacations.
While #BlackWomenAtWork was already in existence - Packnett reveals that she later found out she was not the first to use it - the activist was inspired to shape a conversation around the hashtag in the wake of multiple attacks on our Black leaders, from Waters to John Lewis.
Why do so few trials of police officers charged in on-duty shootings end in convictions? Most recently, the officers who shot and killed Philando Castile and Sylville Smith were acquitted by juries who saw video of the fatal encounters. John Yang discusses issues of race and deadly force with David Klinger of the University of Missouri-St.
Brittany Packnett, activist and Vice President at Teach for America, explains how Black educators are fighting for our children. For decades, Black folks have been saying that attempts to improve the education of Black children-that often do not include but instead railroad Black teachers -will be unsuccessful.
This is "Brittany Packnett - On Teaching and Ferguson" by Leading Educators on Vimeo, the home for high quality videos and the people who love them.
Brittany Packnett is the Vice President, National Community Alliances, Teach For America. Protestor and organizer in Ferguson and beyond, co-founder of We The Protestors and Campaign Zero, a comprehensive policy platform to end police violence in America.
Last week, after watching two powerful black women be publicly berated by white men, it occurred to me that many unknowing Americans had just witnessed the slights that black women endure in the workplace daily and often in silence. So I asked other women like me to share their stories of being #BlackWomenAtWork.
Of the ongoing policy debates spurred by the Trump administration (and there are many to choose from), one of the most pressing regards the state of public education under Betsy DeVos' Department of Education.
Moderator Jim Wallis President, Sojourners Featured Participants Peggy Flanagan Minnesota State Representative Taina McField Program Officer, The Nathan Cummings Foundation Brittany Packnett Teach For America M. Daniel Carroll R. Wheaton College Bryan Stevenson Equal Justice Initiative
Brittany Packnett is a protester, activist and educator who is vice president of national community alliances for Teach for America, a co-founder of Campaign Zero (a comprehensive policy proposal to reduce police violence in the US based on community and activist input, research and rigorous data), and a member of the President's 21st Century Policing Task Force.
Brittany Packnett is the Vice President, National Community Alliances, Teach For America. Protestor and organizer in Ferguson and beyond, co-founder of We The Protestors and Campaign Zero, a comprehensive policy platform to end police violence in America.
Brittany Packnett is the Vice President, National Community Alliances, Teach For America. Protestor and organizer in Ferguson and beyond, co-founder of We The Protestors and Campaign Zero, a comprehensive policy platform to end police violence in America.
Last summer, on the late singer Aaliyah's birthday, I made a stomach-churning discovery. As I cranked up her classic debut album Age Ain't Nothing But a Number, I looked closely at the cover. The album's producer, Robert Sylvester Kelly, lurks in the background, watching her, far away but never out of sight.
From obtaining civil rights for black people to the freedom to marry for LGBTQ people, social justice activists have been paramount in changing our country's discriminatory ways. At the White House's South by South Lawn today, Congressman John Lewis, a civil rights leader and one of the organizers of the March on Washington, kicked off the "How We Make Change" panel with some words of advice.
Earlier this summer, Brittany Packnett announced she would be leaving her role as the Executive Director of Teach for America-St. Louis and would become TFA's new vice president of National Community Alliances. That role starts October 1. Before she starts the new position, Packnett joined St.
I couldn't agree more with Anil, one of my favorite Twitter friendships that will hopefully become a real-life one after we share space at today's South By South Lawn, the White House's turn on convening art, ideas and action for change.
President Barack Obama gave a shout out to local activist Brittany Packnett Saturday in his commencement address at Howard University in Washington. In the 45-minute long speech, Obama urged the Class of 2016 to remain aware of injustice, unfairness and struggle as they move through their lives, and to take action to correct them.
Brittany Packnett (@MsPackyetti) used a hypothetical windfall as a means to explain real-life privilege of all sorts.
My question was not a call to wage war on white people. It was me interrogating whether they were ready to join in the war against white supremacy, a system that benefits few and destroys many. Understand: White supremacy is as much about mindless habits of white privilege as it is about active beliefs. It is about impact, not simply intent.
My mother turned 60 on May 31. It was a typically celebratory occasion for our family - several of her sisters, nieces and nephews were present, along with her fiancée, my only brother, and myself.
Less than two months ago, Brittany Packnett featured prominently in The New York Times'reporting about Hillary Clinton's continued inability to solidify black millennial voters. Packnett, 31, first came to national attention during the protests in Ferguson, Missouri, following the police shooting death of Michael Brown.
After meeting through protest, DeRay, Johnetta, Samuel and I launched Campaign Zero nearly a year ago - a comprehensive policy platform to end police violence. Each of us believes in a simple, but radical idea: that someday, we can live in a world where the police don't kill people.
It's always a delight to celebrate members of our community who tirelessly elevate the work, particularly when that member is one of the brightest voices of the next generation of educators. Leading Educators is excited to see Brittany Packnett recognized as one of LinkedIn's Next Wave - Top Professionals 35 and Under.
When you rarely see yourself reflected in the candidates running for president and you struggle to believe that elected officials genuinely care about the issues affecting your community, voting can seem like a waste of time. For some African-Americans, their preferred way of making a political statement is by not voting at all.
We have a choice to make Nov. 8. But our engagement must outlast Election Day.
Black folks know political theater when we see it; we've lived through it for years. And as the 2016 presidential election ramps up, our feeds, and our lives, are inundated with grandstanding and pandering, much lofty rhetoric and often, too few solutions that actually prioritize the unique needs of people of color.
I've grown to hate the phrase "community-police relations." Often, this phrase is used to describe the current public conversation about policing. But there are more accurate terms with which to describe what citizens - especially those of us of color - actually face too often at the hands of those meant to serve and protect.
Busta spoke with Brittany Packnett of the National Black Lives Matter movement about the importance of voting.
Last night, I stood in a jam-packed arena as a multiracial crowd chanted "Black Lives Matter," following an on-stage appearance by Mothers of the Movement at the Democratic national convention. Irrespective of political affiliation, no one can deny the power of these women, all mothers to the fallen sons and daughters who founded this movement for black lives and human dignity.
My father was an amateur gardener. Nothing special - basic landscaping at our home on the lawn his mother never had when he was growing up on Chicago's south side. Whenever I'd help him, he always gave me the simplest task: pulling up the weeds.
I was raised to honor my roots. I am rooted in the community of St. Louis, MO where I was reared. My home is a few miles away from Ferguson - where I work with so many exceptional partners to empower our youth through educational opportunities and have been engaging in collective activism since the death of Michael Brown, an unarmed teenager who was one day away from attending college.
The Ferguson Protester community is home to many voices and experiences. Informed by many voices, this letter serves as a statement of purpose for those who may not yet understand the movement in #Ferguson or why protests still continue, 102 days later.
Brittany Packnett tweets live updates from the small midwestern city embroiled by sometimes violent protests.
Brittany Packnett is an alumna of Teach for America and, four months ago, started a new job as executive director of Teach For America - St. Louis. Packnett was born and raised in St. Louis and returned to the city after spending five years in Washington D.C.
"We, the Committee of Public Safety, find Jean Valjean guilty. The sentence is death by guillotine!" Molly McPherson, a redhead with glasses, is dressed in a blue bathrobe - in costume as Robespierre. Her seventh-graders are re-enacting the French Revolution's Reign of Terror, with a little assist from Les Miserables.
Brittany Packnett delivered a powerful keynote address at Public Allies' August 2016 National Leadership Institute, where she was presented with the Living Our Values award for her dedication to equity, social justice, and education. "Listen intently to those who have most been affected by social injustice, and there is no way that you will not...
FERGUSON, Mo. -- Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon (D) on Tuesday announced the 16 members of the Ferguson Commission, which was established to address issues of racial and economic inequality in the St. Louis region following the shooting of Michael Brown. One of the commission's members is the top Teach For America official in St.
Teachers are typically well informed. They know how and where to track down data, they brainstorm ideas and they work with people. So when Brittany Packnett, Teach for America-St. Louis' executive director, was named to the president's Task Force on 21st Century Policing, she was in for a few surprises.