Belonging: Kristin Henning on The Rage of Innocence: How America Criminalizes Black Youth, Her Work as a Georgetown Law Professor, and Why Juveniles Are Stereotyped From Just the Word Itself

Published: April 6, 2022, 8 a.m.

A nationally recognized\xa0writer,\xa0trainer,\xa0and consultant\xa0in juvenile justice reform, Kristin Henning speaks on the intersection of race, adolescence, and policing.\xa0Her book,\u202fThe Rage of Innocence, is a powerful analysis of how the legal system criminalizes normal adolescent behavior in communities of color.\xa0In it, she lays bare the long-term consequences of racism and trauma that Black children experience at the hands of police (and their vigilante surrogates) and explains how discriminatory and aggressive policing has socialized a generation of Black teenagers to fear and resent the police. In her lectures and workshops, Henning examines how\xa0normal adolescent behaviors are distorted into crime and deviance among Black youth, who are denied the grace and tolerance society extends to their white peers. Drawing upon her experience working in D.C.\u2019s juvenile courts, she examines the physical and psychological harms of constant discriminatory and aggressive police\xa0surveillance during adolescence \u2013 the last period of significant flexibility in the brain \u2013 and discusses the devastating long-term consequences criminalization has on the development of Black youth.\nIn her timely and essential workshops, Kristin Henning helps organizations identify unconscious racial bias and challenge racial injustice and inequality. In her educational and dynamic talks, she discusses the challenges she encountered in her legal career and the need for police, prosecutors, and judges to\u202fexamine their personal biases and combat them in favor of equitable treatment.\nKristin Henning is the Blume Professor of Law and Director of the Juvenile Justice Clinic and Initiative at Georgetown Law, where she teaches students about criminal law, family law, and\u202fracial bias in the juvenile and criminal legal systems. Before joining Georgetown University, she worked as a public defender, where she organized and led a juvenile unit representing children arrested in the Washington D.C. area. She is currently the Director of the Mid-Atlantic Juvenile Defender Center and serves on the Board of Directors for the Center for Children\u2019s Law and Policy. Henning received her B.A. from Duke University and J.D. from Yale University. She has received numerous awards for commitment to justice, including the 2021 Juvenile Leadership Prize from the Juvenile Law Center, the 2015 Award for Youth Justice from the DC Lawyers for Youth and 2013 Robert E. Shepherd, Jr. Award for Excellence in Juvenile Defense by the National Juvenile Defender Center.\nJoin our\xa0Patreon community of Difference-Makers\n\ufeffThe A World of Difference Podcast is brought to you in partnership with Missio Alliance.\nStay In Touch: Connect on Facebook and Instagram with thoughts, questions, and feedback. Rate, review and share this podcast with anyone that would love to listen. \xa0 Find Us Online: @aworldof.difference on Instagram and A World of Difference on Facebook, on Twitter at @loriadbr & on Clubhouse @loriadbr.https://linktr.ee/aworldofdifference or loriadamsbrown.comInterested in one-on-one or group coaching on how to live a life that makes a difference? Check out: https://www.loriadamsbrown.com/coaching\nBecome a patron of this podcast, and enjoy free merch. Join other patrons of this podcast at Patreon. \nMentioned in this episode:\nJoin Difference Makers\nJoin us in our membership community for exclusive content for only $5/month at https://www.patreon.com/aworldofdifference. We go deeper with each guest, and it makes such a difference.\nPatreon\nDo you want to go deeper?\nJoin us in Difference Makers, a community where we watch and discuss exclusive content that truly makes a difference. Give us $5 a month (the price of a latte), and join in on the conversation with our host Lori and others who want to make a difference. We'd love to have you join us!\nPatreon\nThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Chartable - https://chartable.com/privacyPodtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp\nLearn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices