Transgender Rights Activist Janet Mock Will Speak on Campus

Transgender rights activist Janet Mock will speak on campus at 7 p.m. Monday, April 6, in John M. Greene Hall. “A Conversation with Janet Mock” will be moderated by Kevin Quashie, professor of Afro-American studies, and a book signing will follow.

Sponsored by the senior class, the event is open to the public, and no tickets are required.

Mock first told her story of growing up as a trans girl in 2011 in Marie Claire, a magazine where she now serves as a contributing editor. Her memoir, Redefining Realness: My Path to Womanhood, Identity, Love & So Much More, was published in February 2014; critic bell hooks said the book was a “lifemap for transformation.”

In 2012, Mock launched #GirlsLikeUs, designed to empower trans women and celebrate the diversity of womanhood. In 2013, she joined the board of directors at the Arcus Foundation, a global organization advancing social justice and conservation issues.

Mock serves as host of So POPular, a weekly culture show on MSNBC’s Shift network. She has been featured in the HBO documentary “The Out List” and has served as a correspondent for Entertainment Tonight. She has been honored by organizations including the Feminist Press, Planned Parenthood and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project, and earlier this year she was named one of Time magazine’s 12 new faces of black leadership.

A native of Honolulu, Mock did her undergraduate work at the University of Hawaii at Manoa and earned her M.A. degree in journalism from New York University.

Photo by Aaron Tredwell