Dr. Brittany Lewis
My journey:
A series of humbling events
If you would have told me that, one day, I would be a Ph.D., researching communities as a profession, I wouldn't have believed you. As a queer Black girl who once experienced homelessness before finding security and love with a local Black family, I’ve learned a lot about life—and how I can create systemic change and strive toward a stronger tomorrow.
It all started in college. When I took urban studies and urban politics classes, I was struck to see that Black women were framed as the culprits of urban decay, time and time again. It hurt me. The people who have sustained me the most when I needed it were Black women.
I wanted to be part of telling their story—a story that exists in the margins.
I fell in love with bell hooks and Angela Davis. I fell in love with women who were, far before their time, radically asserting their identities and ideologies that disrupted the nation.
To put it simply: Black women tell you the truth that we often don't want to hear.
Critically Acclaimed Reports
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The State of MN’s First Report on Black Women’s Economics
In 2015, Dr. Lewis was hired by the Black Women’s Wealth Alliance (BWWA) through a Kris Nelson Community Based Research Grant administered by the Center for Urban and Regional Affairs (CURA) to write the State’s first report on Black women’s economics and to help launch the organization. Read more.
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Illusion of Choice: Evictions and Profit in North Minneapolis
Single Black mothers face the highest risk of eviction in the United States. Matthew Desmond’s 2016 book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City brought this national crisis from the margins to the center of public discourse. From 2013-2015, approximately 50% of renter households in North Minneapolis. Read more.
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The Diversity of Gentrification and Displacement
In 2015, there was an impasse in discussing the realities, perceptions and implications of gentrification in the region. CURA partnered with Equity in Place, a coalition of community-based groups, to define research questions that would bring clarity to the conversation and inform the research design. Read more.