FOCUS
Deanna’s research seeks to name and disrupt structural sources of harm that deeply impact Black women and femmes’ health and wellbeing. The healthcare and criminal legal systems in America historically reflect the interlocking nature of oppressive systems and structural gendered racism. Deanna plans to address these health needs by naming historical and unique contextual factors related to specific communities, such as geographic regional culture, environmental factors, and political landscape. This will aid in more fully identifying and dismantling pathways of criminalization entrenched within our health systems and highlight investing in healing justice. She hopes to assist in training providers in behavioral health to be more responsive to the needs and safety of their communities by divesting from carceral systems, and building power and agency to create and implement their own solutions through a praxis of liberation.
MORE ABOUT DEANNA
Deanna’s lived experience as a Black woman from south Louisiana deeply informs her desire to grow and develop as a transformative, radical scholar. Having worked in crisis response in multiple different settings, she brings relational, systems-level thinking to all of her work.
