Scamming, Survival, and Trap Feminism

Writer and UIUC alumna Sesali Bowen, author of "Bad Fat Black Girl: Notes From A Trap Feminist," read from her book and recounted her 2006-2009 years at Illinois: a difficult freshman year in molecular and cellular biology, class disparities on campus, shoplifting, a 2007 arrest and night in Cook County Jail, and losing financial aid before transferring to DePaul. She reframed survival strategies as Black women's creativity and credited a Black girlhood studies course with Ruth Nicole Brown. An extended Q&A with students and faculty followed. Content note: contains profanity.