Alexa Ogno
Salem, MA
In the 1980’s, I went to a Catholic prep school that was full of privileged white kids. My good friend, Duchess Harris, was one of the few students of color. There was a single African American teacher. One of the student government fundraising activities was a “Slave Auction” in which fellow students could buy another student and have them do whatever they wanted for a day. Duchess was rightfully outraged at this and ran for student government her first year there. These words were part of her campaign speech. She went on to lead the student government at UPenn and is now a professor of American Studies at Macalester College in Minnesota. She continues to speak out about racial injustice, and has written extensively about women of color in politics. You can find out more about her current work at http://www.duchessharris.com/#about
